Maria's been hurt by Elaina and her Braviary! Is this where Elaina makes her counterattack? Will Blake be able to get through successfully?

KedharS: It really doesn't.

Aakareo Kokokuhikari: Interesting ranking so far.

Rowlets and Oshawotts: People really like evil women.

Guest: Who can say.

JoshGamerV: Apparently so.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 721

"Maria!" Blake cried. "Maria, get up!"

"Mar…" Maria picked herself up off the ground, panting. She was in pretty rough shape, but to Blake's relief she wasn't finished yet.

"Quite a tough pokemon," Elaina complimented her. "But tough won't be nearly enough! Raiver, take everything and finish her off!"

"Braviary!" Raiver cawed, spreading his wings wide and flying towards Maria, focusing energy into his body. Blake could see what he was preparing to do, and was ready for it.

"Maria, he's going for brave bird! Dodge to the side, and use venoshock!" He shouted. Maria nodded, taking advantage of her boosted speed to jump to the side, opening her mouth and belching a massive wave of venom at Raiver, hitting the bird pokemon as he turned. But Elaina's harmonia was burning with such intensity that mere poison wasn't enough to get the better of them.

"Withstand it!" She roared. "And tear her apart! Brave bird!"

Raiver pushed through the poison and turned upon Maria, harmonia pushing him to the maximum as he shot forward, body covered with red light. Before Maria could dodge, he slammed into her with a powerful brave bird, sending the tiny pokemon flying back.

Maria hit the ground hard, and laid there, still not moving.

"Maria!" Blake cried. He didn't even notice that Raiver had crashed to the ground himself and Elaina had nearly fallen over, her pokemon succumbing to the pain of the poison and the recoil from his brave bird attack.

"Mar… reanie…" Maria managed to stand, but Blake could see that she was on her last slivers of health.

"Maria, use recover," Blake quickly ordered. "You need to heal!"

"Mar…" Maria panted weakly, nodding. She began to glow as her health recovered.

"That's very sweet, taking care of your pokemon," Elaina complimented him as she recalled Raiver to his pokeball. "I know how it is, to treasure your pokemon. After all, my pokemon are the closest things I have to friends. But unlike you… my friends won't fall for nothing. Ayer… come and bring me victory! Devastate this battlefield, and the trainer who thinks he can 'save' me with nothing more than his sweet and empty words!"

The rage in Elaina's voice was clear. She flung her pokeball into the air, and her Aerodactyl reemerged with roar, landing on the ground. Due to the effect of trick room, his speed was severely hampered; flying might be difficult.

But Elaina didn't need him to fly.

"Ayer, use earthquake!" She snarled.

"Aero!" Ayer roared, spreading his wings and slamming his tail against the ground. Tremors began to emanate from around him, sending devastating shockwaves through the battlefield.

"Maria! Wide guard!" Blake quickly ordered. Maria spread her tentacles and created a barrier of light around her that shielded her from the effects of the earthquake. "You're going to have to do a lot better than that, Elaina!"

"Fine, then I will!" Elaina fired back. "Ayer, stone edge!"

"Aerodactyl!" With a flap of his wings, Ayer tore massive stones out from the tile and flung them at Maria. But Maria was too quick and Ayer was far too slow. The tiny pokemon easily dodged around the stones as she recovered, charging at the ancient fossil pokemon.

"Hit him with toxic!" Blake ordered. Elaina's Braviary had been able to dodge it, but that was because under trick room he was a lot quicker than her Aerodactyl was. There was no way Ayer would be able to dodge this attack. Maria opened her mouth and spat an orb of poison at the large pokemon, and even though Ayer flapped his wings to try and get out of the way, there was no point. The poison orb caught him on the wing and infected him with the devastating toxins, Ayer letting out a roar of pain as he tumbled over.

"Yeah!" Kate cheered. "That's the way to do it! Now, get him with the venoshock!"

But Elaina wasn't going to let that happen. Even though she had given Ayer the order to flee, she knew that there was little chance of it actually going down like that. So she had focused her energy and directed it into Ayer's attacking abilities, and now that he was poisoned she was ready to let it all out on the Mareanie.

"AERODACTYL!" Ayer roared, and a massive shockwave erupted from his body. Before Maria had the chance to erect a wide guard or summon a substitute, the shockwave slammed into her, knocking her backwards. Ayer's massive attack stat combined with the boosts from harmonia was devastating, and she was thrown to the ground, knocked out in a single blow.

"Two down," Elaina rasped.

Blake recalled Maria with a sigh. This wasn't good. He had hoped that Maria would be able to get in a few more blows against the Aerodactyl, but she'd done the best she could. He couldn't blame her for that. He just had to hope that his remaining pokemon would be enough to take down the rest of Elaina's pokemon.

"Ruru, come back!" Blake called, throwing out a pokeball and sending Ruru back out. The Galvantula chittered, glaring at the Aerodactyl.

"That one again, just as I expected," Elaina scoffed. She was so angry it was like she didn't even care that she was poisoned. The toxins pumping through Ayer were nothing compared to rush of harmonia filling her, and she felt like she was ready to take on the world. "Ayer! Use rock slide!"

With a roar, Ayer sent another wave of stones tumbling forward, rolling towards Ruru like a devastating wave.

Blake was prepared for that, and Ruru was more than fast enough to dodge it.

"Ruru, jump up and dodge!" He called. "Then, use screech!"

"GAAAAAL!" Ruru sprung up into the air and opened her mouth, releasing a sonic shriek that stunned Ayer, reducing his defenses as the wave of rock passed harmlessly under her. She landed on the ground and scuttled forward, opening her fangs.

"Now, leech life!" Ruru wasn't fully healed yet, and he wanted her to recover her health. But unfortunately, he vastly overestimated how much trick room had impaired Ayer.

"Aero!" Ayer managed to dodge Ruru's fangs, raising his tail and slamming it into her legs, knocking her off-balance.

"Stone edge!" Elaina ordered. Massive rocks tore out of the ground and flew towards Ruru, burying her under a mountain of rock.

"Ruru!" Blake cried. He hadn't been expecting that. Ruru was faster than Aerodactyl, but not much faster. He had really messed up.

"Your fragile little insect won't be able to stand up to the power of harmonia any more than you can," Elaina growled. "Finish her off, Ayer!"

She's an arachnid, you stupid girl! Dokukage screamed internally at Elaina.

Blake wasn't about to let things get the better of him. He believed in Ruru, he wasn't about to let her fall here. "Ruru!" He shouted. "Discharge!"

The pile of rubble began to shake, and a surge of electricity broke from within, sending rocks and dirt flying. The shockwave of lightning slammed into Ayer, the poisoned pokemon letting out a cry of pain. Ruru jumped to her feet, beaten bloody but ready to keep going. She growled, scuttling forward, electricity crackling through her fur in preparation for her next attack.

Blake could tell by the condition that Ruru was in, that she wouldn't last much longer. Which meant that he had to shift his focus from winning and defeating Elain's Aerodactyl to a more tactical approach. "Ruru!" He called. "Use spider web!"

"Gal!" Ruru nodded. She spat a large, sticky spider web that landed on Ayer, pinning his claws to the ground.

"Aero?!" Ayer sputtered, pulling against the webbing tying him up. "Aerodactyl!" He struggled against the threads, trying to break free, but he couldn't. He raised his wing to try and cut the webs away, but that wasn't working, either.

"Ruru's webs are tough," Blake advised. "You won't be able to free yourself that easily!"

"Trying to web me up, are you? Pointless!" Elaina spat. "Even if we can't move, there's nothing you can do to resist our overwhelming power!"

"That's true, that didn't seem like a very smart move," Nikita said. "I mean, that Aerodactyl was already really slow, and not doing much dodging anyway, so why bother pinning him down like that? It seems like a wasteful move."

"He wants to pin down her avenues of escape," Cynthia noted.

"A true ninja knows when it is time to boost ones' own power, and when it is time to hamper their foes' ability to fight," Dokukage said, mentally patting him on the back for that drop of sagely wisdom. While Cynthia fawned over him, everyone else just stared at him in confusion.

Sylvia cleared her throat. "What Dokukage is so adroitly stating is that by using spider web, Blake has made it so Elaina can't recall her Aerodactyl now."

"Oh, yeah!" Sango gasped. "That's right, in the games, spider web has the ability to prevent the opponent's pokemon from switching out!"

"Precisely," Dokukage nodded. "Which means that Blake can now begin weakening that Aerodactyl, in order to soften it up for his next pokemon. He has already set his sights beyond the current battle, in preparation for a future victory. Truly, that is the way of a ninja. I have taught him well."

Claire and Cynthia stared at Dokukage like he could walk on water.

"…Yeah, I'm fairly certain ninjas didn't invent basic strategy and forward planning," Kate dryly responded.

Dokukage said nothing.

"But he is still correct," Ayame said. "That Aerodactyl's condition is worsening."

"That's because of the poison from my amazing toxic attack!" Kate boasted. "By infecting that Aerodactyl, it's getting weaker and weaker at an exponential level. And you could try and offset that by recalling the pokemon for later, but thanks to the spider web, Elaina can't do that!"

"…I was talking about the reduction in defense from the screech attacks, but yes, that as well," Ayame agreed. On cue, Ruru let out another screech to reduce Ayer's defensive stats even more.

"Enough of this!" Elaina growled in irritation. "Stone edge!"

"Sucker punch, Ruru!" Blake ordered. Ayer spread his wings and prepared to fling more rocks at Ruru, but before he could, Ruru scuttled forward and raised her legs, hitting Ayer in the jaw and knocking him back. He fell on his back, knock moving from the spot due to the webs tying him down.

"If your plan is to keep using sucker punch, then fine," Elaina panted, ignoring the pain in her jaw and the fire burning through her brain. She tasted iron as blood rolled down her lips, but none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was the battle! "Ayer! Stealth rock!"

Ayer spread his wings and sent rocks flying up into the air, the stones hovering around the battlefield and circling Blake.

"No, not the stealth rocks again!" Cynthia groaned. They had been so close, but these rocks were a real annoyance.

"That is problematic, considering how much damage some of Blake's pokemon have taken," Akira said, scowling. "Those stones will do some serious damage, and his team can't take much more of it. This could be crippling."

"No," Ayame said, shaking her head. He faith in Blake was unshakeable. "Blake is going to win. I believe in him. And I believe in his pokemon. They're tougher than you think, and they're not about to give up here, either."

Claire stared at Ayame, beaming in admiration at her dedication to her boyfriend. Well, Blake. You really did choose a good one. She smiled. And you did it all without my help. I guess I didn't need to be so worried about you, after all.

"Ayer! Now that that's settled, finish this!" Elaina roared. She braced for the pain. She had no choice. She put everything into defense and attack, preparing for a painful exchange. "Earthquake!"

"Ruru! Sucker punch!" Blake ordered. Before Ayer could strike, Ruru leapt forward and raised her legs, hitting Ayer in the face. But as much as the attack hurt, Elaina had been prepared for it. She pushed her harmonia to the breaking point, maximizing her focus and directing her rage into her partner. Withstand, Ayer! You have to withstand! You can't fall to something like this! She roared, feeling her harmonia flare up even brighter in response, the wind tearing the air around her to ribbons as blades shot everywhere.

In the end, it proved to be enough. Ayer hadn't fallen to the sucker punch, in spite of being weakened by screech and the poison. And because he hadn't fallen, that meant it was time for a counterattack to be launched. Ruru would have nowhere to run.

Ayer couldn't fly from the ground, but he didn't need to. Raising his massive tail, he slammed it down against the tile. Boosted by harmonia, the earthquake traveled through more than just the stadium, though.

"Get back!" Akira shouted, pushing Serefina backwards as the quakes began to spread to the audience. Luckily, this was a clearing, so there wasn't much chance of harm. But a lot of people were losing their balance.

It was when cracks started forming that Alcea got really worried about everyone's safety.

Serefina stood up, brushing her clothes. She scowled at Akira. She appreciated the gesture, she really did, but at the same time, wasn't Akira being a little bit too much of a worrywart, trying so desperately to keep her safe?

…Well, given the circumstances, she couldn't exactly say that she blamed him, of course.

"Uwaah! Earthquake!" Cynthia cried, throwing herself onto Serefina and burying her face in the other girl's breasts.

The tremors had stopped by that point, and Serefina wasn't amused. Cynthia quickly pulled back and stepped away, an awkward look on her face.

When the earthquake attack was finished, the only thing still shaking was Ruru, laying on the ground, twitching helplessly. Blake sighed, and recalled his Galvantula to her pokeball.

"Blake's lost two more pokemon now," Sango said, the worry in her voice clear. He was down to his last three. And while Elaina only had two left herself, that was far from a reassurance.

"Blake's a pokemon ahead of her," Cynthia mumbled. "So why does it feel like our side is the one being pressured?"

The answer to that was clearly the display of power that Elaina's Aerodactyl had just displayed. Even after being badly poisoned and taking two screeches, followed by a couple of sucker punches to the face, the pokemon was still standing, and looked almost uninjured.

Elaina herself was a different story. She looked almost tranquil, like she was standing in the eye of the storm. And what a storm it was. Kitty was no longer the only person who could see how frayed Elaina's mental state was, that was apparent to everybody. Her harmonia had leaked out, and was currently raging like a maelstrom, engulfing Elaina's body and tearing the air apart around her. Everyone could see it now, even normal people.

But in the center of it all, you couldn't tell a thing, because Elaina hid her weary and battered expression behind a mask of tranquility, pure porcelain perfection that glimmered in the dim green glow of the trick room.

As long as she wore her mask, she was fine. As long as she kept her face hidden, no one would see just how beaten down she was behind it.

I can do this, she told herself. Just a little bit more. If I just bring out a little bit more, then I'm finally free, free of all of this… I won't ever have… to believe in his false words again…

Why didn't that thought comfort her like it should have?

"Elaina, can I ask you something?" Blake asked, his voice so quiet Elaina barely heard it over the raging wind. She raised her head to look his way, unable to make out his face with her vision as blurry as it was. She couldn't tell if he was sad, or angry, or still not taking this seriously at all.

"What?" Elaina asked. She had meant to sound curious and tender, but with how burned out she was her voice came out as a harsh bark.

"Why are you fighting right now?" Blake asked, recalling Ruru to her pokeball.

Elaina couldn't understand the question. Was he… was he really asking that? Why she was fighting? It… it was obvious, wasn't it? Because if she didn't fight, if she just gave in, then he would tear down her walls, and then…

"Because of you!" She shouted, her voice drowning out the wind. "Because you won't leave me alone! Because if I don't fight you, then you're going to… you're going to…!"

"I'm going to what?" Blake asked, narrowing his eyes. "You accepted my challenge so you could be done with me, right? Why?"

"Because I'm sick of your false promises!" She spat. "Telling me that you'll save me, that I can be a normal girl, I don't want to hear your meaningless words ever again! So that's why-! That's why I'm fighting you! That's why I'm going to destroy you! I'm going to beat you down so badly and make you suffer, so you never make the mistake of trying to coming into my heart again!"

Elaina's voice nearly gave out at the end of her rant, and she dropped her arms to the sides, panting. She waited for his response, expecting some stupid speech about optimism, or believing in Elaina's goodness, or something else equally ridiculous.

But there wasn't a speech. Blake just stood there quietly, like he was thinking. When he finally spoke, they weren't the sort of words Elaina had expected to hear.

"So you're trying to fight me so badly… because you're afraid that I might actually get through to you?" He asked.

The question hit Elaina harder than any attack that stay. It seemed to come from nowhere, reaching out and piercing her chest before she could even think.

"That's… no, of course not!" She exclaimed, desperately waving off his words. "Why would you even think something so stupid?!"

"Because it's the only thing that makes sense," Blake said. "Look at you! Right now, you're pushing yourself to the edge, drawing on all the power you have, and why? Just to crush me? Someone you don't even like? You could have just ignored me, Elaina, you could have kept on ignoring, me, but you didn't! Why not?!"

Elaina didn't have an answer. Because… Because she wanted to drive him off, to keep him away, right? So he wouldn't give her false hope… But then…

"Be-Because your lies were starting to-!" She caught herself before the words left her lips. "No, never mind!"

"Because you started to believe it was possible, didn't you?" Blake demanded. He wasn't about to let this just get dropped. He couldn't see Elaina's eyes, but he knew she had to be burning with anger right now, and that was fine with him. "You started to think that maybe, just maybe, if I kept pressing you, if I kept being there, that maybe I could tear down your walls, isn't that right? All those defenses you erected just to keep people out, to keep you safe, I was starting to get through, wasn't I? But you couldn't let that happen, because you weren't ready to face the world just yet! That's why you're still fighting me now, isn't it?"

He pointed at her, and she flinched in shock. His finger felt like the barrel of a gun, aimed straight at her heart.

"Admit it! You're so afraid that someone might actually get through to you and bring you back down to earth, that as much as you want to be normal you'll jump on any excuse to get rid of the people you think might help you! That's why you've stuck with Gerard so long, isn't it? Even knowing that he can't do anything to help you! Because as long as you're with him, you can keep telling yourself that you're trying to improve, while the real you is locked up tightly away behind that mask, not having to worry about coming out and facing reality! Isn't that right?!" Blake demanded.

"NO! NO! YOU'RE WRONG!" Elaina shouted, clutching her head as it throbbed with pain. Blake wasn't right, he wasn't! But why… why was her heart aching so badly?! Why was it telling her that he WAS right?! It just didn't make sense! It was wrong, he had to be wrong!

"You pushing me away wasn't because you were afraid that I only saw you as a stepping stone to get to my sister, that was just an excuse!" Blake's words were like razor blades dragging across her skin, slowly peeling one layer away after another, exposing Elaina, raw to the world. "Deep down, you pushed me away because you knew that if you didn't, that I would try to help you! That I could break down those walls of yours, isn't that right?!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Elaina howled, her shouts drowned out by the violent roar of the storm around her.

Well now, Blake, that's quite an interesting theory. So, the truth comes out, doesn't it?