Dokukage and Shinobu have sent out their pokemon to fight with the full extent of their abilities! Which one will emerge the victor? This thrilling battle between ninja siblings comes to an end with this chapter!

KedharS: I don't know. I guess we'll have to see.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 891

Dokukage and Shinobu were holding nothing back at this point. They had both ordered their pokemon to use powerful moves in order to get the upper hand.

For Shinobu, she had ordered Muramushi to use the strongest move he had, close combat. Close combat was definitely a reckless gamble, making use of all of the pokemon's power to unleash a destructive barrage of punches, kicks, and horn strikes. It was so strong that the pokemon gave everything into offense, without even considering its defensive capabilities, resulting in a reduction in his defense stats.

It was a double-edged sword. Muramushi would have incredible destructive power, but at the cost of a major backlash should his opponent get a hit in. He was sacrificing defense for more offense, which was risky.

That was what Dokukage was counting on, and why he had given Muramasa his orders.

Close combat was powerful. Even with swords dance, Muramasa didn't have any attacks that could match it in pure power. But he did have something that could even out the scales, and that was the speed of bullet punch.

With bullet punch, Muramasa could unleash a devastating barrage on his opponent that would move fast as a bullet, which would be the edge Muramasa needed to counter close combat. If he couldn't win with power, he would go with speed. The plan was that the second Muramushi unleashed the power of close combat, Muramasa would strike, hitting the Heracross's joints and weak spots and generally just deflecting his blows.

If it went as Dokukage planned, then Muramasa would be able to overwhelm Muramushi with his attacks in the narrow window after Muramushi lowered his guard but before the Heracross could even land a single strike.

Dokukage held his breath and hoped, they would find the results out in a matter of seconds. Either Muramushi would hit Muramasa with the close combat and have enough destructive power to knock him unconscious, or he would drop his defenses and let Muramasa hit him with enough blows to cripple him so Muramasa could go in for the kill.

But neither one of those things happened, because the two pokemon never got a chance to attack one another.

A blast of wind roared across the roof and a massive tornado spun up in the center, creating a curtain of pressure that forced the two pokemon back. It wasn't some natural occurrence, that was apparent immediately.

A third Bug type pokemon appeared in the wake of the tornado.

"Heracross?!" Muramushi gasped in shock, stumbling back.

"Scizor!" Muramasa was a little swifter in his reaction, jumping back warily to anticipate the incoming threat.

"What the hell?!" Dokukage exclaimed, losing his composure. He looked up at the new pokemon and was shocked at what he saw.

Shinobu wasn't. She crinkled her nose and scowled. "Shima. What are you doing here?"

Dokukage squinted, barely able to make out the silhouette of the pokemon against the morning sun. As the bug flew closer to the ground, though, it became clearer, and Dokukage gasped in recognition, it was a Yanmega.

Perched on the back of the buzzing pokemon was a familiar face. It was Shima. Like Shinobu, he hadn't changed much. He had a passive grin, like we was relaxing back and watching the clouds instead of floating atop a large Bug type pokemon. He peered down at Dokukage from behind his dark bangs and waved.

Dokukage tensed. If Shima was here, then that meant his problem had just doubled. He might have been able to take on his sister if he gave it everything he had, but fighting against his sister AND Shima was basically impossible.

"Shima!" He shouted. "Get down here!"

"What's the meaning of this?! What are you doing here?!" Shinobu shouted. She was upset as well. She hadn't told Shima her plans, and she had been enjoying the fight against her brother. Shima interrupting them like this was irritating; she had been in the middle of a battle! She might have admired him, but she still wanted to fight.

Shima stared down at the two of them.

"WHAT?!" He shouted.

The siblings reacted with confusion.

"Shima?!" Dokukage sputtered.

"What's going on?!" Shinobu demanded.

"WHAT?! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Shima shouted down at them.

"HUH?!" The two exclaimed.

"I SAID, I CAN'T HEAR YOU! MY YANMEGA IS TOO LOUD!" Shima called back. He was already moving his pokemon down lower so he could get off.

Dokukage sighed, the tension in the moment had been completely drained. Now he didn't know WHAT to feel.

Shima dismounted his Yanmega, and the pokemon landed on the ground, its loud wings coming to a stop.

"Sorry about that," he laughed, turning his attention to Dokukage. "I forget that I can't hear very well when I'm on Yamano's back."

"…Sounds rough," Dokukage said awkwardly. He didn't really know how to respond to this situation. Muramasa tensed, raising his pincers in preparation in case Shima ordered his pokemon to attack. He knew that these were their enemies, after all, and he wasn't going to let them get the upper hand. At the same time, he had to be cautious about Muramushi, as well.

"Shima, what are you doing here?" Shinobu asked. She was already feeling her mood take a turn for the better. She'd been so upset not too long ago, but those feelings had passed her by completely. Now she was just happy he was here.

Of course, that was because everyone expected her to be happy about Shima's presence, so how could she not be?

"Sorry to interrupt your little battle," Shima said, chuckling. "I had no idea that you of all people would be here, Dokukage. Tracked us down finally, eh?"

"…School field trip, actually," Dokukage tersely replied, working hard to keep his embarrassment off of his face.

Shima had to think about that one for a second.

"Wait, the ninja school does field trips now? What?" He asked, confused. That didn't sound like the sensei he remembered, was the old man finally going senile?

"No, the Pokemon Academy," Dokukage said, shaking his head.

Shima tensed, and his smile turned muddy. "So you're a student at the Pokemon Academy now, Dokukage?"

That reaction made Dokukage suspicious. There shouldn't have been any reason for Shima to feel conflicted about the Pokemon Academy, but that reaction suggested that he knew something about it that he wasn't saying.

"Why? What's it to you?" Dokukage asked. "Why would someone like you care about the Pokemon Academy?"

Shima shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just surprised. I didn't think that you of all people would ever set foot outside the village, so to hear that you went to a whole different school, a normal school, to train your pokemon, well… it's rather shocking, don't you think, Shinobu?"

"Yes, incredibly shocking," Shinobu said, nodding her head like an obedient Growlithe. Dokukage rolled his eyes. He could see that the battle was now the furthest thing from his sister's mind. So he ignored her and turned his attention to Shima again.

"So what are you doing here?" He demanded. "Why would you come here and interrupt our battle, Shima?"

"A better question is why are the two of you even battling to begin with?" Shima asked, glancing at their pokemon. "Heracross and Scizor… this doesn't look like a friendly sparring match between siblings, what's going on here?"

Dokukage couldn't believe what he was hearing. Shima was actually wondering why Dokukage was fighting his sister with everything he had? That was crazy.

"What's going on here is that I'm fighting Shinobu to show her that I was able to do what she couldn't," Dokukage said, keeping his temper under control. "I stayed in the village. And I mastered its techniques. That's why I was at the Pokemon Academy, and why I left the village, to further polish my techniques while I looked for the two of you, so I could defeat you and bring you home. And I was about to use our village's treachings to defeat her when YOU had to interrupt us."

Shima blinked. "Oh, is that right?"

Dokukage scowled. "Yeah," he said. "That's right."

"Well, my apologies then," Shima shrugged. "I was just passing through, trying to figure out where Shinobu had gone off to, and what do you know? I happened to find her not only fighting a pokemon battle, but against my best friend, too! I just had to stop by and say hello!"

Dokukage couldn't help but be amazed at the audacity in Shima's words. He was seriously calling Dokukage his best friend? That was insanity. After all they'd been through, sure, they had been friends at one time, but now, after what he'd done?

"You think we're friends?" Dokukage asked in disbelief.

Shima made a face like he'd been hurt. "What? You don't think so? That's painful to hear, Dokukage, of course we're friends! Why else do you think I would have invited you to come with me, if not because I thought of you as one of my closest friends?"

Dokukage still remembered that night. When Shima asked him to come with him and Shinobu with a big smile on his face, like betraying the village and everything he believed in wasn't a big deal. It was insane to think about.

Dokukage just shook his head in disbelief. "You betrayed the village, Shima! Of course we're not friends anymore!"

That was a lie, and everyone there knew it. Those were the words Dokukage was supposed to say, but they weren't words that he believed. Even now, even knowing how wrong it was, a part of him still considered Shima his best friend.

But even though Shima knew those words were lies, he still looked hurt by them. He sighed. "I wish you would understand, Dokukage. It's nothing against you or the village. The reason I left was because of who I am. I couldn't be in that place anymore, following their rules and orders, I needed freedom, why can't you understand that?"

In fact, Dokukage could understand that. He could understand Shinobu's compulsion and his need to be free. But just because it was something that he understood that didn't mean it was something he agreed with.

"Shima… did you really need to leave?" Dokukage asked. "You couldn't have stayed? Found that thing you were looking for back home?"

Shima shrugged. "You tell me, Dokukage."

Dokukage didn't know what to make of that answer. "…Huh?" He asked, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"It looks to me like Shinobu and I aren't the only ones here who have experienced life beyond the walls of our village," Shima explained. "So you tell me. Aren't there things that you've experienced in that school of yours that you would never have been able to get back home?"

Shima's tone was hopeful and pleading. He so desperately WANTED Dokukage to understand his point of view and agree with him, and that was making his words that much more persuasive. He needed his friend to agree.

For his part, Dokukage was a little swayed. He couldn't deny that what Shima was saying was true, after all, there was a lot he had experienced since he'd left home that he doubted he'd have been able to get if he'd remained in the village. Mainly those things were Sylvia, and experiencing them wasn't necessarily a good thing, but the point still remained.

When Shima put it like that, even Dokukage could feel himself getting a little swayed. He could understand Shima's point of view a little better than he could back then, when the two of them had first left.

But just because he understood it that didn't mean he agreed. "Shima… I won't deny that there are things beyond the village," he admitted. "But at the same time…"

Shima didn't give him a chance to finish. "You see?!" He cried. "That's exactly it! Dokukage, this world of ours, it's too big! And our village is so small! I don't want to be trapped, using my skills to support our masters, I want… I want to live life for myself! I want to touch the clouds, soar through the sky, live a life unbound by anyone and anything! And Shinobu feels the same way, don't you Shinobu?" He asked, looking hopefully to his companion.

As always, Shinobu met expectations perfectly. She put on a sweet smile and nodded. "Yes, that's absolutely the case," she agreed. "I want to experience a world of freedom just like you do, Shima, there's nothing wrong with that."

Shinobu turned to Dokukage. "You see, little brother? This is what we want. And I know you might have a hard time understanding it, but this is the path that's right for the two of us."

She recalled Muramushi to his pokeball, which surprised Dokukage.

"Wait, Shinobu…"

"There's no point in battling anymore," she said. "I've already seen what I hoped to see. And you've grown amazingly, little brother, you're really a trainer that anyone could be proud of." She said those words with an honest smile on her face, and it made Dokukage remember when he was a kid again, hoping for his sister's approval in everything.

That sensation made him flinch, and kept him from speaking out against her.

Her next words brought him crashing down to earth.

"But just because you're strong… that doesn't mean we need to fight." She turned to Shima and smiled, infatuated with his charisma. Everything he said just made so much sense. "Shima's right. I'm going to keep looking for my own happiness and freedom."

Dokukage hung his head in resignation. He'd tried to fight and defeat his little sister to win her over and show that she was wrong to think the way she did, but it had all been for nothing. He could see that now, she was too swept up in Shima's line of thinking.

With no further reason to keep fighting, Dokukage recalled Muramasa as well.

Then, Shima spoke up.

"It doesn't have to end this way, you know," he said. His eyes were wet with expectation. "Dokukage… you could come with us. Forget the village, forget bringing us home. We don't want to go. We want to keep living a life of freedom, and you're free to join us."

Dokukage for the first time felt genuinely tempted by the offer. Living with Shima and his sister, not having to worry about his duties or cares, just living a life of freedom… it was an offer that would have enticed anyone.

But Dokukage wasn't just anyone. He was a shinobi, and he had his loyalty. And he wouldn't let anyone get in the way of that, not even his sister or his best friend.

"I'm sorry, but no," Dokukage said, shaking his head. "Even if I wanted to go with you," which I do, "even if I could, I just can't."

Shima frowned. "Why… why not?" He asked.

"Because you stole our village's sacred treasure, that's why," Dokukage said, glaring at him.

Shima blinked, and then rolled his eyes. He reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled something out of it. "Oh. You're talking about this? Is that what this is about?"

Although their village was in the center of a dense forest, that didn't mean that it was completely isolated. Due to the particular composition of the environment, there were things that could be found in the forest that couldn't be found in ordinary forests.

One of those things was priceless gemstones. You see, a large river flowed through the village, and also flowed through a large mountain range not too far away from it. And those mountains were filled with gemstones.

Every so often, the river would pick up gemstones from the minerals of the mountain, and carry them down to the village, who would pick them up and sell them.

But a few particularly gorgeous specimens were kept and given out as souvenirs and good luck charms to the children; the stone Dokukage had loaned to Blake for his battle against Elaina had been one of those stones. Shima and Shinobu each had one as well, they were both hanging from the trainer's necks'.

But the stone in Shima's hand wasn't one of those. While those stones were smaller, this gem was about the size of a tennis ball, and it was glowing. The ochre green of the crystal produced a soft shine that seemed to radiate with energy.

No one in the village knew what it was. A precious gem? Or an evolutionary stone of some kind? The only thing they knew about it was that it had an effect on the Bug type pokemon within the forest, causing them to grow stronger and more ferocious. It was the reason that their people had settled the area so long ago in the first place, and even to this day trained themselves and their Bug type pokemon so passionately.

The stone, whatever it was, had been the treasure of their village, and Shima and Shinobu had just taken it and ran.

And that was something Dokukage couldn't forgive. If they wanted to leave, fine. It was wrong, but Dokukage could understand it. But stealing the sacred treasure was another story.

Even now, Dokukage was resisting the urge to lunge and snatch it back from Shima's hands. But he knew he couldn't. The minute he tried, Shinobu would attack him back, and while he was confident that he could handle her in a pokemon battle, when it came to actual fights he wasn't as bold. And Shima was a trained shinobi as well, it would have been two against one.

So all Dokukage could do was stare at the soft glow of that green stone and wish that it was back where it belonged, in the sacred shrine.

"Dokukage, please, come with us," Shima begged. "The power of this stone… you don't know the half of it. Just like us, this stone was worthless locked up in that village. But the people we're working with now, they know just how valuable it really is."

Once again, Dokukage found himself nearly knocked over with surprise. Shima… was working with people? Shima, who hated being bound by anything, who longed for his freedom? That Shima was working with someone else?

"What are you talking about?" Dokukage demanded, glancing at Shinobu. She hadn't mentioned anything about that.

"Let me explain," Shima said. "Shinobu and I, after we fled the village, we joined an organization of likeminded individuals. People who don't want to be bound, people who just want to be free. All we're looking for is peace in our world, Dokukage, and we can use this stone and the others like it in order to finally get that."

Dokukage looked into Shima's eyes, lit up by the green glow. But he couldn't see his friend in them anymore. It was like he was looking at a stranger.

He just shook his head in disbelief.

Shima let out a resigned sigh and slipped the crystal back into the pouch. He looked at Shinobu and shrugged. "Well, I can't say I didn't try," he said.

"I'm sorry, little brother," Shinobu apologized, climbing onto the back of Shima's Yanmega behind him. She gave him a longing look. "Maybe we'll see each other again someday."

Dokukage wanted to stop them. He wanted to send Muramasa back out and force them down. But he knew there would be no point. He couldn't beat both of them. He couldn't do anything.

He pulled his mask back up and hardened his resolve, tamping down on his emotions again. He needed to get back.

So Dokukage and Shinobu's reunion has come to an end. Sadly, we didn't get to see who would emerge the victor of their battle, but that's fine. He's come away with something, and hopefully the next time they meet, he can talk some sense into them.