Now that Dokukage's given his sister some harsh truths, it's time to resume the battle! Will he be able to defeat her for the first time? Or will Shinobu prove that even after all his hard work, he still isn't strong enough to win?

KedharS: They often do when it comes to Dokukage.

Jjjdunk1: Maybe just a little. Dokukage is a ninja after all.

I move weight: I'm sorry it wasn't for you.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: He's going to try his best.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 887

Dokukage could see that things weren't going to go anywhere between him and Shinobu. She was too enthralled by Shima to recognize that she had traded following the ideals of the village for following the ideals of Shima.

I can't get through to her like this. She's the total opposite of Sylvia who just does anything she wants. The perfect soldier. Dokukage needed to clear his thoughts. Shinobu was always capable of reading him perfectly, and to beat her he needed to keep his cool.

Dokukage had never once beaten his sister before. But he needed to do it now. If he could beat her, then maybe that would help her see that he was capable of changing. That he wasn't still the same weak little kid that he used to be, that he had become someone better.

Maybe if he could change, then Shinobu would be able to change herself.

It was a long shot, he recognized that. But it was the best shot he had at the moment so he was going to try.

"Kagemusha!" Dokukage shouted. "Use swords dance!"

"Golisopod!" Kagemusha growled. He ignored the pain from his deep wound. He was only concerned with the battle. Dokukage hadn't intended it to be the case, but Shinobu hadn't been the only one listening to his words. Kagemusha had heard them as well, and they resonated with him. He remembered the day he had met his trainer just as much as Dokukage did, and the affirmation that they were alike, the memory of that bond, it was enough to push him into his second wind.

Normally, Kagemusha fought through stealth and trickery like he was trained to do, like a ninja was meant to fight. By holding back and observing while getting easy shots in, and then retreating for a new strategy when the moment called for it, that was the style that Kagemusha had always practiced, and it worked well for him.

But that wasn't what he was going to do today. No, today he didn't have the choice to run, the Leavanny had cut that off from him. And if he couldn't run from his opponent, then the only thing that was left to do was fight.

Shinobu, on the other hand, was more shaken by Dokukage's words than even she could realize at the time. She hadn't expected her little brother to say anything like that. He was always the obedient soldier, who kept his true thoughts hidden.

When did he get the strength to speak his mind so directly?!

But now wasn't the time to ponder things like that, even she could realize that much. She needed to focus, there was still a battle to win! "Hahako!" She called to her Leavanny. "He's trying to increase his strength, you've got to stop him!"

Using Hahako's entrainment attack, she had managed to take away one of Dokukage's strongest assets, his Golisopod's Emergency Exit ability. But she had ended up replacing it with something else. Now Kagemusha had Swarm, which would massively boost the power of his Bug type moves when his health dropped too low.

And thanks to Hahako's leaf blade, Shinobu was fairly certain he was right in the sweet spot for that ability to kick in.

Indeed, Kagemusha began to glow with a sickly green aura as he scraped his claws together, his strength increasing tremendously. It confirmed what Shinobu expected, that he would be attacking with a Bug type move.

That would be a problem, to say the least. She had sent out Hahako because her Grass typing gave her an advantage over Kagemusha's Water typing, but that came with a different problem. Being part Grass type meant Hahako had a weakness to Bug type attacks, which meant if a sword dance-boosted Bug type attack hit from Golisopod's already massive attack stat, then Hahako would be in for a world of hurt.

But she was lucky that he was so darn slow.

"Hahako, before he can attack, hit him with your leaf storm!" She shouted. She was going to finish off the bug before it could do anything.

"Leavanny!" Hahako nodded, raising her claws. Leaves shot off from her body and spun around her in a massive tornado, swirling in a tempest of razor blades towards the preparing Golisopod. Kagemusha was already cut pretty badly, and this attack would reduce him to a pile of scales!

But Dokukage wasn't worried. A move like that was nothing compared to their training.

"Kagemusha," he shouted, nodding to his pokemon. Kagemusha knew exactly what to do. As the leaf storm approached he raised his claws and howled… and then plunged right into the center of the maelstrom!

Shinobu gasped in shock. Her stoic veneer was destroyed by Dokukage's words, revealing the confused girl underneath. She had never imagined that Dokukage and that wimpy Golisopod of his would ever do something that reckless.

"Foolish, charging head-on into an attack like that," she said, shaking her head in disbelief. "Your pokemon is done for!"

But even as the words left her lips, they felt hollow. Because she was looking at her brother when she said them, and she wasn't feeling the tiniest bit of doubt or recklessness coming off of him. He was brimming with confidence.

"Don't underestimate us," Dokukage said calmly. "I told you before, Kagemusha and I aren't the same as we were back then."

Oh shit! Oh fuck! I hope this works! Dokukage screamed internally. He really didn't want to think about what would happen if Kagemusha wasn't able to pull this off. Come on, Kagemusha, you can do this! I know you can! …Oh god, I'm an idiot, a complete idiot, what was I thinking?! Telling my pokemon to jump right into the leaf storm! I'm a terrible pokemon trainer and a worthless shinobi I can't believe I would do something so stupid!

Shinobu couldn't see any of that, though. Because as good as she was at reading her brother, right now, she was at her worst. She was too distracted by her own thoughts, and by her doubts, that she couldn't see that Dokukage had gotten ever so slightly better at concealing his emotions than she had given him credit for.

So even though Dokukage was practically wetting himself with doubt, Shinobu wasn't able to pick up on that at all.

What's the plan here? Just sending in his pokemon to be knocked out?! She didn't know what Dokukage was thinking, but she knew that he was a tactician. If that wasn't some reckless ploy and he really did have a plan… Well, what was it?

She stared into the swirling tornado of leaves, trying to make out the shadow of Kagemusha within them. Was he using protect? A substitute, maybe? No, he'd already been preparing an attack, a pokemon as slow as him wouldn't be able to switch moves so suddenly.

Shinobu squinted, and that's when she saw it. One of the leaves had broken off of the leaf storm. It was the first of countless thousands; more and more leaves were shredded and flung out of the tempest, knocked away before even coming close to striking Kagemusha.

"Golisopod!" Kagemusha roared from within, and as the leaf storm thinned out his figure became much clearer.

She couldn't believe her eyes.

Swinging his massive claws like a pair of swords, Kagemusha was actually slicing through the leaves of the leaf storm. One by one the hundreds of razor-sharp blades were being parried and knocked aside, shredded to scraps by far sharper slashes.

It was insane. Like watching a samurai catch a snowflake on the edge of his sword, Kagemusha had countered the leaf storm by just… attacking it. He ignored the wind, and focused on the swirling leaves, negating them before they became a threat. And when the last of them were knocked aside and their tattered remains joined the pile of mulch on the ground, it finally sunk in that her brother wasn't the same boy she remembered.

"Well that was… unexpected," Shinobu said, shaking her head in disbelief. She was so shaken that she didn't even think to give orders to Hahako.

"That was our x-scissor," Dokukage said. "It can be used to attack, certainly, but when wielded in conjunction with swords dance it can also be used to defend. These are the techniques of our village, Shinobu, the same moves that you threw away so easily."

"I didn't throw anything away," Shinobu glared at him. "I realized that my potential was wasted in a place like that. I can live a life of freedom now, little brother, I don't have to continue being a servant to-"

"A servant to our sensei, yes, I know, you've said that enough times," Dokukage sighed. She had accused him before of asserting his thoughts to convince himself instead of her, but right now it felt like that was what she was doing. "Well if that's how you feel, then I'll have to show you just how powerful those techniques really are. Go, Kagemusha! Aqua jet!"

"Golisopod!" Kagemusha shot forward like a bullet, water wrapping around his body. He was quicker than Shinobu had expected, and appeared behind Hahako, raising his claw and slicing fast and hard, knocking the pokemon to the ground.

"Hahako!" Shinobu cried.

"Kagemusha might be slow, but he can make up for that with his moves," Dokukage said. "I've trained my pokemon to reach their maximum potential using the teachings of our village. What have you learned from your freedom, big sister?"

"I've learned not to underestimate you," Shinobu admitted. "It was a mistake, and one I won't make a second time. You know how good I am at picking up on things, little brother."

Shit. Of course that wouldn't be enough to keep her down! Dokukage slapped himself in the face in his mind.

"Lea… vanny…" Hahako groaned, rising to her feet. She was shaken, but not badly injured. Even with the force of that aqua jet scoring a direct his, she was still a Grass type pokemon and that meant she could resist the move.

Dokukage wasn't going to let her get the upper hand. "Kagemusha!" He shouted. "Hit her with x-scissor now, while she's weakened!"

"Golisopod!" Kagemusha roared, taking the opportunity of being right behind Hahako to raise his claws and slash at her with everything he had. Swords dance had already boosted his monstrous attacking power to an incredibly high level, and Swarm was boosting it even further.

"I don't think so!" Shinobu shouted. "Hahako, use protect!"

"Leavanny!" Hahako raised her claws and conjured a barrier of green light out of thin air, blocking Kagemusha's attacks perfectly. The bug pokemon slashed helplessly against the force field, trying to break through, but he couldn't.

Shinobu sighed in relief and visibly relaxed. It was rather astounding for Dokukage. His sister who he had always seen as perfect and unflappable was actually being pressured by his attacks, he actually was seeing her sweat!

It wasn't something he was used to, that was for sure.

We can do this, he realized, finally recognizing that he had a real shot. She was on the defensive, and that meant he and Kagemusha could still win. Yes! This is perfect! We've got to keep hammering away at that barrier until it drops, and then-

No, wait, that's a bad idea, Dokukage reminded himself, catching his mistake. He'd gotten too caught up in the heat of things and had nearly forgotten to approach this with a level head.

It wasn't that easy to beat Shinobu. And you couldn't break a protect attack just by hitting it hard enough.

He was getting reckless now that he'd seen the chance to beat his sister, and reckless was bad. Shit! That was almost dumb! I can't believe I was about to let Kagemusha leave himself vulnerable like that! I need to focus! This is Shinobu we're talking about here, she's still as lethal as ever!

Shinobu wasn't just scary because she was a stronger trainer than he was, the scariest aspect of her was how easily she could adapt to anything. If someone wanted her to hit a target with a shuriken, she would do it. If they wanted her to climb trees or scale cliffs without using her hands, then she would do it.

Shinobu was capable of anything. It was what made her so frightening. As long as she thought that it was what someone else wanted from her, then there was really nothing that she was incapable of doing, and that was a terrifying ability to have.

If she wanted to win this pokemon battle, then she would do that, too. Her adaptability was her most lethal asset.

Fuck. I knew it was a bad idea to provoke her! Hell, this entire battle was a stupid decision, what the fuck am I even doing?! Even if I manage to win, it's not like I would actually change anything, so why the fuck am I even trying so hard?! Dokukage was chastising himself, but even as he felt his doubts and fears seizing him and threatening his better judgment, he still knew the answers to the questions he was asking.

He was trying so hard because Shinobu was his sister. Whatever else she was, she was still his big sister and he loved her. And even if it was hopeless, even if he couldn't get through to her, she was his sister and he was still going to TRY.

She deserved that much.

He glanced at Kagemusha, and the Golisopod understood what his trainer was asking of him. He pulled back and lowered his claws, staring through the green barrier and waiting.

Shinobu was surprised. She hadn't expected Dokukage to charge in recklessly, of course, but she didn't expect him to back off so easily, either.

I know he's a coward… but even he's not that pathetic, Shinobu understood. Dokukage wasn't going to let up just because he was afraid. She remembered him as a cautious coward, but she also knew that he had been taking advantage of her poor judgment concerning his abilities to lead her in directions she didn't want to go.

I already decided not to underestimate him. I'm not going to just let him make a fool out of me. He's got to be planning something, she recognized. So what could it be?

She put her mind to it as the two pokemon waited patiently for the protect to run out.

Shinobu could tell that's what he was waiting for. He couldn't attack while the protect was still active, so he was having Kagemusha wait.

Normally when you can't attack your opponent due to a move like protect, the smart thing to do is to use the opportunity to strengthen your own pokemon with a buffing move. He could be having his Golisopod use swords dance again, but he isn't. Why is that? Shinobu wondered, putting herself into Dokukage's mental state right now. That would have been the move she'd have probably made if she were in his position.

Not buffing and just waiting for her was definitely a questionable decision. With another swords dance stacked up, then even Kagemusha's aqua jet would be doing real damage. And Dokukage's primary strategy was the same one that she'd always learned, buff your pokemon with status moves and then pass them onto the rest of the team, until you build a pokemon juggernaut that nothing could overcome.

Thanks to the sticky webs he couldn't do the baton pass part of that plan. But Kagemusha was still capable of buffing himself. So what was he after….?

Oh, so that's it. He understands how low Kagemusha's health is, Shinobu realized. If he has Kagemusha use another swords dance, then that will leave him vulnerable. And if Hahako attacks him while he's trying to buff himself, then at his current speed there's almost no way he'd be able to escape in time. He doesn't want to risk it.

Dokukage was still being as cautious as he always was.

He must be preparing Kagemusha to use aqua jet to dodge my attack when it comes, Shinobu thought. That way he won't get injured, and might even be able to pivot to strike back. Because he expects me to launch the next attack from behind the protect, since Hahako is so much faster. So he's not going to do anything that might jeopardize that…

…But is that really it?

It definitely was the kind of move that Dokukage would come up with. Cautious, and yet effective. Hahako had already been hit by one aqua jet, after all, another one would likely work just as well. It was a smart move where Shinobu was sitting.

Yeah, that's what she would bet on. But at the same time, she'd been fooled one time too many today to comfortably say that was what he was planning.

It's got to be more complicated than that. He wouldn't just be using aqua jet, would he? If so, wouldn't the smarter move be to use aqua jet, and retreat? Then he could buff at a safe distance and not put himself at risk like this, Shinobu realized. No, he's got to be aiming for something else entirely, but what could…

Then she figured it out.

Sucker punch! Of course, that's got to be it! He isn't just preparing an attack to dodge! He knows that's what I would think he would plan to do, because he's such a cautious guy! But the reality is, he's preparing to use sucker punch so that when I take the initiative and attack, he can counterattack before Hahako can react and hit her with a sucker punch!

With how high Kagemusha's attack was right now, a sucker punch attack would be backbreaking. It could knock Hahako out in one shot, or at least weaken her so badly there would be almost no chance of fighting back. Then Kagemusha could come in and sweep things up with an aqua jet and that would be the end of it.

Shinobu smiled. She'd figured out his plan. Not a bad strategy, little brother. You really have grown quite a lot. But I'm not that easy to fool. I could see right through it! You're hoping I'll attack you when the barrier drops, but I won't. I'm not going to fall for your little game!

Shinobu glanced at Hahako and shook her head slightly. When anticipating a sucker punch, the smart thing to do was use status moves. But she didn't want to let on that she'd figured out what he was planning. She'd wait for the protect to drop, and then she'd hit him with a status move that would cripple him!

Sorry little brother. But as cautious as you are, that won't be enough to defeat me! I can see right through you!

While Shinobu was congratulating herself behind her stoic mask, Dokukage's face was locked in an equally emotionless expression.

That's right, Kagemusha, Dokukage thought encouragingly. It was all going according to plan. Don't do anything. No aqua jets, no sucker punches, just sit and wait. Shinobu likes to think she's got everything figured out, so let her confuse herself into making the wrong move. Just sit and wait and drive her crazy, that's all we have to do.

Kagemusha nodded. He could understand his trainer's desires perfectly.

Shinobu might be getting a little too caught up in things. But at least Dokukage is showing how skilled he really is! Maybe there's a chance he can pull this off after all!