Wes has returned home! But not everything is happy with his family at the moment, Vic still has a lot of issues with what's happening! She needs to get into Relic Cave, to learn the truth about her past. What sort of test will he devise for her, to make sure she's worthy? And will she be able to pass it?

KedharS: It helps that they're very similar people in a lot of ways.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 941

Vic followed her father out of the house, an impatient scowl on her face.

"Dad, where are we going?" She demanded. "You can't just walk away from me like this! I told you, I wanted to take the trial, or test, or whatever it is!"

Wes sighed and pinched the scar over his nose. He turned back to his daughter. "Victoria… take a look at yourself, please."

Vic glanced down and realized she was still dressed in her pajamas, even though she was outside in front of her classmates. Her face turned red.

"S-Sorry, I'm going to go get changed," she sputtered, running back into the house.

Wes turned to Rui, who was resisting the urge to break out into a big smile. She knew it might not have been appropriate, but she was overjoyed to see her husband. It felt like it had been an eternity since she'd last seen him.

"Our daughter is rather… troubled," Wes muttered, pulling Rui aside so the students couldn't hear. They were all staring at him, confused and anxious. Unlike his daughter, they had all thought enough to get changed into real clothes for the day.

Rui sighed. "Yes, that's… a problem," she admitted, shaking her head. "I'm worried about her, Wes, I really am."

"Well, she said she wanted me to test her capability, so that's what I plan to do," Wes said. "I'll have a battle with her, and then-"

"No," Rui cut him off, shaking her head and glaring sharply at him.

Wes was taken aback. He was used to Rui having a strong will, even as much as she'd mellowed since their youth, but she was remarkably… forceful.

"What do you mean?" He finally asked weakly.

"I mean 'no'," Rui said. "She's not going to battle with you. The reason I brought her here in the first place was because she got into a pokemon battle, and nearly lost control of her harmonia. I thought bringing her home would help her calm down and relax, but…"

She shrugged her shoulders. What had happened spoke for itself.

"…I'm not going to refuse her," Wes said, frowning. "She's so insistent on this, I'm sure you can imagine what her reaction will be after we tell her that she can't-"

"I'm not saying don't test her," Rui clarified. "I'm just saying… with her mental state right now, as upset as she is… I don't think that a battle is going to be a good thing for her. If there's another way you can test her…"

Wes paused to give it some thought. "…I'll think of something," he replied. He was honestly rather anxious himself. After all… he didn't know what he was supposed to do to test his daughter in the first place. He'd just settled on a battle because that was something he was used to doing.

But really, there hadn't exactly been something written down about how to test someone. Guarding Relic Cave was something passed down through Rui's family, from one child to the next. There wasn't really a situation like this. In truth, it would have been normal to just let their daughter in without any testing required.

The problem was, Ryoko had insisted that there was to be a test to determine if she was worthy. He didn't know what that meant, but he knew that their job was to guard Relic Cave; because that was the duty entrusted to them by Ryoko.

Wes was not the most trusting person in the world. His life experiences with Team Snagem and Cipher had made him very jaded, and even though Rui had been there as his chain to morality, he still found himself questioning a lot of the things that he was tasked with.

"If it wasn't for Ryoko's help, with Celebi, we wouldn't be here now," Wes murmured. "We have to trust that she knows what's best. Believe me, Rui, I don't like it any better than you do. And I don't like how much Ryoko has hid from us, but…"

"…But that's the sort of person she is, huh…" Rui sighed.

Wes nodded. "You know as well as I do how important what we're guarding is," he gently reminded her. "For all of the Orre Region. If Ryoko wants a test, then…"

"But what's the test for?" Rui mumbled, just as unsure as her husband what the point of all this was. Eagun hadn't seen the need to test the two of them, so why was Ryoko insisting a test now? It just didn't seem fair.

"I promise, I'll think of something," Wes said, glancing back at the students. They had already been a source of a lot of attention before, but now it looked like the kids were even more suspicious of what was going on.

But there was one thing that caught his eye, and an idea began to form in his head.

"Wait here," Wes said. "I have a plan."

He turned and walked over to the crowd.

Vic was busy getting changed while her parents were working out what to do. She needed to compose herself. She was getting nervous; not just excited that her father was here, but actually nervous. After all, he was about to test her to see if she was worthy of entering Relic Cave. She'd never wanted to inherit her mother's role as protector, hell, she never even KNEW about her harmonia's strange ability until now.

But if she wanted to learn the truth about what had happened to her, then it was vital that she win this battle.

"I need to control myself," she whispered. "I can't let my powers get out of hand the way they did before." She suspected that part of this test was going to be about whether or not she could keep from losing control of her abilities the way she'd done the other day, against Ayame.

Luckily, Agate Village was the perfect place to be. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, and even though she was in her bedroom, she could still smell the sweet air of nature flowing through her, soothing her anxiety.

It really said a lot about the small town that even the atmosphere inside was calming.

Resolved, she stepped outside to go confront her father.

What she saw was a little different than she'd expected.

In Agate Village, there weren't a lot of pokemon battles. Even if most of the population were retired trainers, they found it better to let their pokemon rest and enjoy the twilight years, rather than continue to fight. Wes was the only trainer here whose pokemon still engaged in battles, and that's why he'd set up a small grassy battlefield out in front of his home, so he could test their strength, and so, whenever Vic would come to visit, there was something for them to do together.

But even though everyone was gathered there to watch the battle that was to come, the spot across from her father wasn't open for Vic to join today.

The Commander was standing there instead.

"Alden?!" She sputtered, so shocked that she'd completely forgotten to address him by his title. "What are you… what's going on?! Dad?!" She looked to Wes for clarification, but his cold expression gave nothing away.

"Don't worry about it, Vic," Alden laughed. "Your dad came up to me and asked if I wanted to take him up on his offer for a battle! Can you believe that? Barely home for ten minutes and already he wants to have a pokemon battle, talk about a man after my own heart! My 'Sense' is crackling right now, I couldn't say no!"

No. No, no, no, this wasn't at all what she had agreed to. She opened her mouth to say something when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She whirled around to see her mother standing there with a tense expression on her face.

Rui shook her head.

"Mom?" Vic whispered, still confused. "Mom, what is this?"

Rui glanced at the other kids, and pulled her daughter aside.

"This is your test," she whispered back. "To see if you're worthy of entering Relic Cave."

"MY test?" Vic hissed. "Then why is the Commander fighting?! I should be the one up there with dad, if this is-"

"Your test isn't a pokemon battle," Rui said coldly. "That would be too simple. I know how talented you are, sweetheart. What your father and I are testing you on is whether or not you can step aside and place your fate in someone else's hands."

Vic didn't understand. She glanced desperately over her shoulder at Alden, and then looked back to her mother.

"But mom-"

"Don't 'but mom' me," Rui snapped. "This is important. You're always talking about this Alden boy, this 'Commander' of yours. I've seen the way you treat him, and I don't just mean the fact that you're in love, either."

Vic went pale. "I-I'm not-"

"Oh, please, lie to yourself, but don't lie to your mother," Rui smirked, shaking her head. "My point is, you're devoted to him. You have absolute faith in his ability to save the Orre Region, isn't that right, sweetheart?"

She nodded.

"Then I want you to prove it. I want you to put your faith in him. Step aside and let him fight, can you do that?" She asked. Rui hoped that her daughter would be able to relinquish control. It had grown to be too much of a problem. Vic was too much of a control freak, and she suspected that might be what Ryoko wanted to cleanse her of before she was worthy.

She couldn't begin to guess at her motive for that, of course, but as Vic's mother it was something that she personally wanted her daughter to overcome as well. So she stared hopefully up into Vic's eyes, praying that she'd be able to move past her doubts and trust someone else with one of the most important moments of her life.

Vic didn't want to do that, of course. As much as she admired, respected, trusted, and yes, even loved the Commander, she didn't feel comfortable leaving this up to him, even if he was a stronger trainer than she was.

This was her challenge, after all, her test. For the sake of HER past. She couldn't leave that in the hands of someone else, could she?

Whether she could or not, however, she could see by the look on her mother's face that she didn't have a choice. This was what her parents had decided. So all she could do was hang her head and nod, and trust that the Commander would be able to succeed.

"He doesn't know about the test, of course," Rui added. "No one does. And don't tell them, either. As far as he's concerned, this is just about your father wanting to battle a strong trainer. I don't want to say or do anything that could affect your 'Commander's' judgment.

Vic nodded obediently, even though she knew that was probably a pointless consideration. Knowing the Commander, he wouldn't behave any differently regardless. He loved battling for battling's sake, whether or not there were any other stakes was irrelevant to him. He would still give it his all no matter what.

It hurt though, knowing that he wouldn't care one way or the other about what this battle meant to her. But she had to move past that and focus on the fight.

"Well, are you two done?" Wes asked, glancing at his wife and daughter as they returned to the sidelines.

"We are, right sweetheart?" Rui nodded, turning and giving Vic an encouraging smile.

"…Yeah. We're done," Vic mumbled, nodding. "You guys can get started on your fight." It still felt like she was having something stolen from her. This was supposed to be her moment, after all. But if there was someone she could trust, it was the Commander.

"Sounds great!" Alden smiled. "Let's get started, then!"

"It's going to be a double battle, of course," Wes said. "I'm sure you expected that?"

Alden cracked a grin. "Absolutely! I'll start! Jaune! Eifa! Go!"

He sent out two of his pokemon, his Vikavolt and his Espeon. A fairly powerful lead into the battle, all things considered.

Wes regarded it with the briefest of nods. "Solaris. Lunet. Go."

He tossed two pokeballs into the air himself, and sent out two pokemon that Vic and Rui both knew by heart.

"Espeon!"

"Umbreon!"

Wes's Espeon and Umbreon had been his precious partners, the very first pokemon he had acquired. Raised from a pair of Eevee with love and care, they both adored their trainer and his family, and were ready to fight loyally for him.

Vic felt an ache in her heart.

"Whoa, they're both using Espeon! And he's got an Umbreon, too!" Callie said in amazement.

Maddi was pretty impressed herself, even if she was surprised by the choice. After all, both pokemon would be vulnerable against the Vikavolt's Bug type attacks, it didn't seem like a very tactically sound idea.

But Vic knew otherwise. She knew exactly why her father had sent out those two pokemon, and it was touching and tragic at the same time.

Solaris and Lunet weren't just Wes's most important partners, they were also mates. And a few years back, the two of them had finally produced a pokemon egg. Vic had been at the Pokemon Academy at the time, so she hadn't been there to see it hatch, but when she returned home on break, she was surprised to see a newborn Eevee in her house.

Her father entrusted her to Vic, telling her that she could raise it as her own if she wanted to. And part of her had wanted to, even though she already had a full team of six pokemon.

Then she met the Commander. And seeing how much that Eevee had taken to him, she knew that she should leave her in his care, that he would raise her up to be a powerful pokemon indeed. It was a symbol of the trust and faith she'd put in him.

Her unwavering trust had been rewarded, because not a week later and that Eevee had formed such a strong bond with Alden that she had already evolved into an Espeon.

And now that Espeon had returned home, ready to battle against her parents.

All three pokemon knew this, of course, but none of them made any moves about it. After all, even though they were family, they were pokemon first, and they had their duty to their trainers to give it their all.

But it did leave Jaune as sort of the odd 'mon out.

"Alright, Eifa! Start with light screen!" Alden ordered. It was a classic play of his, setting up a light screen or reflect to block against the opponent's attacks. "And Jaune, use agility to increase your speed, as well!"

While Eifa focused on putting up her defenses, Jaune began to fly through the air, picking up speed behind the safety of her crimson barrier.

"Helping hand," Wes ordered. To both of his pokemon.

Solaris and Lunet glanced at each other, and nodded. They both ran forward, moving in perfect synchronicity as a white veil appeared over their fur.

"Whoa, look at that!" Callie marveled. "They're moving in unison!"

"That should be expected," Alcea said. "After all, they've probably been fighting in double battles for years at this point, I would be surprised if they COULDN'T move so well. Not to mention, the strength of helping hand in providing assistance will play a role in that as well, is it?"

"Excellent thinking," Rui grinned. "But that's just the start!"

"Lunet, use return," Wes ordered.

"Umbreon!" Lunet gathered his strength into his paws and leapt forward, slamming into Eifa with all his might.

"Espeon!" Eifa cried in pain, skidding backwards. But she was a tough Espeon, and an attack like that wasn't about to get her down. She quickly leapt to her feet and prepared to counterattack, only to be caught off-guard by a second attack.

"Solaris, use your return, as well," Wes followed.

"Espeon!" Solaris nodded, charging up power just as Lunet had.

"Return?! But Espeon are special attackers!" Callie said, shocked.

Regardless of that, Solaris's return attack still looked like it hurt when she struck Eifa, sending the Espeon to the ground once more.

"Well, I gotta say, I didn't see that one coming!" Alden said, cracking a grin. "Your pokemon are awesome!"

"Solaris and Lunet have been with me since I was younger than you," Wes replied. "Your light screen may have protected you against special attacks, but there's nothing wrong with showing you just how powerful our bond is, wouldn't you agree?"

Alden nodded. "Fair enough! But it won't be that simple! Eifa, use reflect next!"

"Espeon!" Eifa nodded, shrugging off her injuries. The gem on her forehead began to shine and her eyes started glowing red, as she focused her psychic powers to build up another barrier.

"That's right, reflect, that's what you'd do," Wes said, nodding. "Lunet!"

"Umbreon!" Lunet lunged forward, darkness covering his body. He appeared in front of Eifa, his eyes glowing red like hers.

The psychic energy that Eifa had been gathering started to seep out of her, flowing into Lunet instead. A large crimson barrier appeared around Wes's side of the battlefield.

Alden took a moment to consider that.

"…Well. That's certainly new."

"I had Lunet use his snatch attack," Wes said. "A tricky move that allows me to steal the effects of your status moves right out from under you. And while your barrier is down… Solaris, use quick attack on his Espeon!"

"Espeon!" Solaris growled, tucking in her head and dashing across the field, slamming into Eifa and knocking her backwards.

"Eifa, you good?" Alden shouted.

"Es!" She nodded, jumping up. Even boosted by helping hand, an Espeon's physical attack wasn't that much trouble.

Alden turned to look at Wes. "So what I'm hearing is that you could have stolen my light screen, too, and you didn't? You just let me have that one, huh?"

Wes just smirked.

Vic winced. She trusted the Commander, absolutely. She couldn't imagine Alden losing, not even to her father. But at the same time, she knew how strong a trainer her father was, and this was a style of battle that the Commander just wasn't used to yet. The same way she'd been forced to fight a single battle with Ayame, now he was fighting a double battle against her father, who was a master of them.

All she could do was believe, and hope that he'd be able to win.

So it isn't Vic who's fighting against Wes for her test, but the Commander! Will he be able to win? Or will Wes's experience just be too much for him? We'll have to see!