The battle is heating up! Ayame managed to get an early win by taking out Vic's Whimsicott, but this battle is just beginning! Vic's sent her Arcanine out next, and that's a powerful pokemon. Will Ayame's Voltorb be enough to handle it? And the biggest question… what will result from this fight? Will the girls be able to understand each other? Or will they just hate each other more?

KedharS: Hopefully. But Vic's not exactly the bonding type.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 913

Vic didn't know what Ayame was planning to do with that Voltorb of hers, but she wasn't going to give the girl a chance to show her. Arcanine may have been fast, but Voltorb were faster, and that was a problem. But Vic didn't feel worried. With the boost of her harmonia there was no way Dash was losing a battle of speed.

"Dash!" She called. "Use flame wheel!" She didn't want to push her Arcanine too far with another flare blitz so soon. Besides, while Voltorb were fast, their defensive abilities were pitiful, so even a flame wheel would hit like a truck.

"Arcanine!" Dash howled, flames dancing and swirling around his body as he charged across the sand, twisting it into glass with each step.

"Roll, use reflect!" Ayame ordered immediately, foreseeing exactly this outcome. She didn't have the honed instincts of a pokemon trainer, but she could still read a pokemon like a book just by looking at its physical condition, and she could see that Vic's Arcanine was the sort of pokemon designed to charge right in at high speed and do serious damage- simply put, he was the perfect partner for the more tricky Whimsicott.

"Voltorb," Roll buzzed, their round body crackling with electricity. A barrier of sparks formed around them in a protective bubble, and Dash slammed right into it.

Roll rolled backwards without taking any damage and was already starting to build up electricity for another attack. Ayame kept her pokemon in tip top shape and she knew that her Voltorb was ready to strike.

"Now, thunderbolt!" She shouted.

"Vol!" Roll released the electricity he'd built up into a single crackling bolt, launching the electric attack at the Arcanine.

Vic snapped her fingers and Dash disappeared in a flash. The lightning sailed right through the air and struck the patch of sand he'd been standing on, causing it to explode into a twisted amalgam of crackling glass.

"What the hell?!" Ayame gasped in disbelief. A blur of orange flashed in the corner of her eye and she twisted her head to see Dash come in from the side, fangs and claws bared at he struck Roll's barrier as hard as he could.

"You've vastly underestimated me this whole time," Vic smirked, her eyes flashing in a challenge. "Don't you understand just how powerful harmonia is? With just a thought, Dash will do exactly what I want him to, we're connected, the two of us! He feels what I feel, and I feel what he feels. Compared to that, what kind of bond do you have with your pokemon? Hard work and friendship due to working towards a mutual goal?"

She snorted.

"As if that can compare to our connection. The second I saw your Voltorb fire off that thunderbolt I was already telling him to dodge it with extremespeed. That's how a battle works, sports girl. You might be used to your little Pokeathlons where you train your pokemon to do their best, but in a battle you're the one being trained."

Vic was patting herself on the back pretty hard, and Olivia was seething at her. As if she had ANY right telling Ayame that SHE was the one underestimating HER? Vic wasn't even seeing Ayame as a real challenge!

When Olivia was little, she'd wanted to be a pokemon battler because Galar had made it seem that there were no other options. Even when she'd grown up, and learned what it was she really wanted to do with her life, there were still a handful of times when she wished that she had some talent for pokemon battles. Mostly, those moments were due to Alcea Vermeil, and wanting to show her up in some way or the other.

This was one of the exceptionally rare times that Olivia's wish of being a talented trainer was independent of Alcea. She wanted the strength to send out her Garchomp and rip Vic's entire team apart the way Cynthia would have done, but she had to hold herself back. She was no Cynthia, she could only be herself.

And right now, the most helpful thing she could do was cheer for Ayame.

"Come on, Aya!" She shouted. "It doesn't matter what she has to say! That Arcanine still isn't breaking through your reflect!"

But just because she said it, that didn't make it so. The truth was, Dash was starting to break through the barrier, and very quickly, too. Because even with reflect boosting Roll's defense, Voltorb were still a very fragile species of pokemon. And Ayame was completely aware of that, she had trained Roll's condition to maximize their speed and agility, power, and even their ability to jump; but when it came to stamina, that was just a field that the poor pokemon was going to lack in no matter how much they tried to fight.

Ayame wasn't going to be discouraged, though. She knew that Roll could handle a little pressure. If the hail raining down on them wasn't enough to break their focus, then a gnawing dog bearing down on them wouldn't snap them either.

And Dash had made himself the perfect target.

"Roll!" She shouted. "Use discharge!"

"Voltorb!" Roll buzzed in agreement, building up electricity through their round body until they were glowing with energy.

Vic's response was instantaneous. Unlike thunderbolt, which had a single target and thus was easy to evade, an electrical discharge would spread out and hit everything in its path. That was definitely trickier, but not a serious problem.

She quickly conveyed her feelings to Dash, who snarled in agreement. He jumped back, putting significant distance between himself and the Voltorb as Roll released the electricity they'd built up in a powerful shockwave.

Dash leaped over the pulse, evading it completely, and began to charge for Roll a second time, but once again, Roll was prepared.

"Agility," Ayame ordered. Roll already exceeded Dash's speed by a hair, without taking harmonia into consideration; with agility, Roll rolled themselves all over the sand, picking up speed and making them nearly impossible to track.

Ayame smirked. "You thought you were really slick, huh? Trying to compete with me when it comes to speed?" She slapped her hand against her chest and held her head up high. "Just take a look! I've been running since I was a little girl, and I train with my pokemon every single day! You were talking about how being a pokemon trainer means battling beside your pokemon, well, Pokeathlons aren't just about improving your pokemon's condition, either! I have to work just as hard as they do to keep up, and I know just what they're capable of!"

Hiromi beamed with pride at her daughter and her confidence, that was exactly what she wanted to hear.

Ayame wiped the sweat from her brow, watching her Voltorb dash across the sand. In spite of how confident she sounded, she was still concerned about the matchup. Roll was fast, certainly, they were naturally a hair faster than an Arcanine. It would be difficult to catch up in speed once they started using their agility.

For a normal pokemon, anyway.

Vic wasn't falling for it.

"You can pick up speed all you want," she snorted. "It won't make a difference! Dash, let's use your agility!"

"Arcanine!" Dash barked, lowering his head and picking up speed, until the point where he was matching pace with Roll.

Matching… but not exceeding.

As fast as Dash was, he just couldn't catch the speedy little ball, even with the support of Vic's harmonia. But Vic wasn't concerned. If they needed to, then she could issue an order to slam into that Voltorb with Dash's extremespeed. But at the moment, she was just waiting for the damage that had already been inflicted on the reflect to settle in, and the barrier's time to elapse. Once it was down, she was prepared to strike with everything she and Dash had.

She just needed to wait for that narrow window of opportunity.

Then a different window of opportunity arose. Because what expired first wasn't the reflect barrier, it was the hail. Snows' hailstorm had finally let up and the clouds began to part, revealing the sunlight again.

When that happened, something notable occurred. Roll began to slow down. Seriously slow down. It was such a sudden deceleration in speed that Vic and Dash were caught off-guard for a second, and Dash sailed right past them.

"That's what we were waiting for, Roll!" Ayame crowed triumphantly. "Now, thunder wave!"

"Voltorb!" Roll buzzed, crackling with electricity. They released a shockwave that struck Dash in the back before the pokemon or Vic could respond, paralyzing them. Dash, unable to keep up with his body's momentum due to his muscles seizing up, tumbled head over paw and slammed into a sand dune, injured.

Vic winced as she felt her shoulder jam, but shook off the pain. Her whole body felt heavy, but she wasn't about to give in like this! She cursed her own carelessness; she was so used to fighting double battles, she was naturally using Dash as if he still had Ellie backing him up! But without her Whimsicott's safeguard, he was still vulnerable to status conditions.

But it wasn't something to be concerned with. She knew what Dash was capable of, and even with his speed cut by paralysis there was no way he was losing to a Voltorb like that!

"Dash!" She shouted in a voice that was nearly an Arcanine's howl itself. Dash responded in turn, rising to his feet with a roar, turning and glaring at the Voltorb.

But Ayame could see it was all bluster, no substance. His speed was reduced severely; he would need rely on extremespeed to catch up to them now. And her eyes didn't lie. Judging by the condition he was in, she doubted that he'd be able to pull off a move like extremespeed right now.

"Don't worry, Roll!" She called. "We can do this. Thunderbolt!"

"Voltorb!" Roll buzzed, charging up electricity and releasing it in a bolt of lightning.

To Ayame's shock, Dash disappeared in a flash and the lightning bolt struck the sand once more.

"You were counting on paralysis to cut off our speed?" Vic snarled, her eyes burning passionately. "That's not going to happen. We've trained too much for this! Go, Dash!"

Dash appeared behind Roll and slammed into the barrier, smashing through it immediately. Roll didn't have the time to respond, barely managing to spin to face Dash before he lifted his claw, slamming it down on Roll and pounding him into the sand.

"Roll!" Ayame cried.

"You overestimated the ability of your pokemon because you're such a star athlete," Vic snarled, her voice dripping with contempt. "You can't hope to compare with our strength! We've been training our pokemon for battle! Fire fang!"

Dash backed off and opened his jaws wide, flames burning crimson between his fangs. He lunged his head down at Roll to try and crush the ball pokemon in a single bite.

But Ayame hadn't gotten to where she was without being a quick thinker on top of a quick runner, and was fast in giving her orders.

"Roll!" She shouted. "Time for volt charge!"

"Voltorb!" Roll began glowing with electricity, and shot forward, slamming into Dash's chest. The electricity surged out of them and zapped Dash, causing the Arcanine to let out a yowl of pain. With a snap, Roll returned to their pokeball, to make room for Ayame's next pokemon.

"Excellent trick!" Alden complimented, knowing full well how powerful volt switch could be in a pokemon battle thanks to Jaune. "She's given herself the opportunity to regain her momentum and seize control of the flow!"

Vic was enraged by Alden's compliment. Dash had been stunned by the volt switch and his paralysis was acting up, causing her own body to feel heavy and start to seize up as well.

Ayame was fast. She switched Roll for a pokemon who could deliver some real damage.

Foof.

It was such a surprising turn, Vic was actually caught off-guard.

"Wh-What?" She sputtered, surprised to see the Wooloo again.

But Ayame knew what she was doing when she sent out Foof. It may not look like it, but the little guy was strong. Incredibly strong.

"Wooloo!" Foof baah'd, charging across the sand with his head lowered.

"Double edge!" Ayame shouted.

Foof picked up speed, maximizing his power at the cost of his own safety. He slammed into the stunned Dash with everything he had.

For a second, Vic felt like she couldn't breathe. It was the hardest hit she'd taken in the battle. She coughed so hard she thought she'd cough up blood, clutching her stomach and doubling over with pain as the air escaped her lungs.

That little Wooloo could muster that much power?!

Dash let out a whimper and fell into the sand, devastated by the power of the double edge. It was the perfect opportunity for Ayame to seize the victory!

But unfortunately, that didn't look like it was in the cards.

Foof stumbled back, a little dizzy, shaking his head.

"What's going on?!" Olivia cried. "Come on, Aya! This is your chance! The Arcanine is just lying there, finish him off!"

"It's not that simple," Callie frowned, shaking her head. "That double edge was powerful. Which means the recoil damage must have been severe. It's going to take a second for the Wooloo to come to his senses."

Olivia didn't like the sound of that. Foof didn't have a second, the Arcanine was already starting to stand up.

"Foof!" Ayame cried desperately, sensing the danger herself. She hadn't expected the double edge to knock him out, but she'd hoped the attack would do a little more damage, and at least stun him in conjunction with the paralysis enough for Foof to recover and follow up with another attack to finish things.

But she had underestimated the power of Vic's harmonia. Vic had been able to recover her energy quickly, not having been hit by the attack directly, and with her own power, Dash had the ability to recover as well.

He rose to his feet, panting, glaring down at the injured Wooloo.

"Foof!" Ayame cried.

Foof recovered fast enough to just barely dodge the strike from Dash's claw. He smashed the sand and growled, turning towards the Wooloo with flames bursting out of his fur. He ran as fast as he could towards the Wooloo, and to Ayame's regret, it was over fast.

Foof was strong. He had a lot of power. And he was decently quick, and even his defenses were nothing to scoff at, either.

But he was still a Wooloo. And Dash was still an Arcanine. And with Foof's Fluffy ability, he was especially vulnerable to fire attacks, meaning there wasn't a whole lot he could do to withstand the pain of Dash's harmonia-boosted flame wheel.

"Wooloo!" Foof wailed in pain, the flames burning away his wool and badly burning him, knocking him unconscious.

"Foof…" Ayame whimpered, recalling her Wooloo to her pokeball.

Vic snorted, rolling her eyes. "Pathetic. Shedding some tears over a single pokemon fainting? You don't have the guts to be a pokemon trainer."

Ayame glared at her, snapping out of her sadness. She felt bad about Foof getting hurt, what was wrong with that?

"You know, I don't know a whole lot about harmonia," she spat, "but I know that it has to do with having a bond with your pokemon, isn't that right? So what the hell's your problem? You should know how important pokemon are, heck, you can feel their pain! So why are you giving me so much crap for being sad, huh?"

Vic glared at her. "Don't think you understand my feelings towards my pokemon. Just because I don't shed tears every time one of them faints, that doesn't mean I care about them any less than you do, you got that?!"

"Oh, I understand perfectly fine," Ayame said. "But whatever. You want to see the big guns? You want to see my guts? Well, I'll fucking show you, fucker! Rhox! Take her down!"

Ayame flung her pokeball into the air, and her Golem emerged with a roar. He hit the sand hard, practically knocking up a tidal wave, and stormed towards the panting and injured Arcanine.

"If you think a little paralysis is enough to make your Golem stand up to me, then you've got another think coming," Vic smirked. "We're still faster, even now! Dash, use reversal!"

"Arcanine…" Dash panted, gathering his energy and charging forward. With the power of Vic's harmonia, it didn't matter how much damage he had sustain, or how slow and sluggish he felt. His weakness gave him the strength with his reversal, and he was going to smash that pathetic Golem into pebbles!

But to Vic's shock, the Golem easily dodged the attack.

"What the heck?!" She spat in disbelief.

"Nicely done, Rhox!" Ayame crowed. "Have a taste of that rock polish! Normally, it wouldn't be enough to make much of a difference. But with your Arcanine's paralysis, and all those injuries, it's enough for a quick dodge! And now… earthquake!"

"GOLEM!" Rhox roared, lifting his leg and stomping it down into the sand. He send a devastating shockwave through the ground that slammed into Dash, knocking him off of his feet. Vic herself was sent flying, stumbling back and landing in the sand, uninjured but shaken.

"Arcanine…" Dash whimpered, trying to stand, but he couldn't. Rhox roared, gathering energy into his body, ripping a massive chunk of rock from his body and lifting it over his head, slamming it down into Dash's face and knocking him unconscious.

Vic saw stars, pain bursting through her skull as she reeled, groaning in agony. She could barely think straight, all she knew was that her connection with Dash had been severed, which meant he was unconscious.

The pain fueled her rage and she roared angrily, rising to her feet and trying to clear her thoughts. She was pissed, and the headache wasn't improving things.

"Now you've done it…" she growled.

Things are really heating up now! Ayame's lost her Wooloo and Vic's down two pokemon herself; what does she have next up her sleeve, now that Ayame has played her trump card? We'll have to find out! Vic's definitely got some strong pokemon!