Alden was facing a really rough battle at the beginning, but with the help of his trump card, Corin, he was able to turn the situation around! Now with his ace in place, can he seize control of the battle and take the win? Or does Wes have something else up his sleeve?

KedharS: Yep, the battle's really getting intense now that Corin's been called!

JoshGamerV: The test is mainly to see if Vic is willing to put her fate in the hands of someone else. So in a way, she's already passed the test, all she has to do is not lose her shit if Alden doesn't win. And this may or may not be a test of Alden's qualities as a husband. There's some other stuff too, but that's spoiler territory.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 945

Vic held her breath as she watched the fight. The Commander was beginning to turn things around, but the match wasn't over just yet. She had to believe that he would be able to do it, that he could win. Because she didn't want to think about the alternative.

Rui glanced at her daughter and winced. She didn't like doing this. Having to put her daughter through a trial like this. It didn't seem fair. She hadn't needed to go through something like this when her grandparents passed the position onto her. She hadn't been forced to see Wes battle against Eagun or anything like that.

It felt cruel.

But Ryoko had insisted. And true, Rui could understand the need for Vic to get some control over her emotions.

In a way, it didn't really matter if the boy won or not. What the trial was truly testing was the strength of Vic's convictions. Could she hold on believing in Alden until the very end? Could she accept the outcome if he lost? Of course, there was always the chance that he could win, even though Rui didn't put a lot of stock in that outcome. She didn't know a whole lot about pokemon battles but as someone who had been at Wes's side every step of the way in his fight to liberate the Orre Region she knew how powerful of a trainer he was.

He didn't fight in Colisseums, and the facility at Mt. Battle was no longer standing. Orre didn't have anything that could really be considered a "championship tournament" as it wasn't affiliated with the gym circuit or the Pokemon League.

But if people had to name someone who was the champion of the Orre Region, most people who knew anything would name Wes that someone. The motto of the Orre Region, sick as it was, was "weakness is a sin", and while she loathed that line of thinking as much as her daughter, she knew that Wes was an embodiment of it, in a lot of ways.

Wes hadn't allowed himself to be weak. Not back then. In the fight against Cipher, weakness really WAS a sin. If he was weak, he wouldn't be able to save the Shadow Pokemon. He used the snag machine to steal them away, trained them as best as he could, and ultimately they worked together to open the doors of their hearts. It was hard work, but it was rewarding. However, he had also pushed himself to win no matter what.

Now was different, though. Now Wes was fighting a different breed of trainer. Someone who didn't mind if he won or lost. The sort of person that Rui had always hoped that her daughter would meet someday, to help her get over the toxic mindset that the Orre Region had tragically ingrained in her heart.

And not only that, she'd fallen in love with him to boot. Rui clenched her fists and braced herself, feeling the state of Vic's emotions through their harmonia connection. As mother and daughter, their wavelength was a lot more attuned than most people would be. So she knew how much Vic was struggling, watching her father fight against her love. Especially considering what was riding on the outcome.

You can do it, Victoria, she pleaded with her daughter. You can pass this test, I believe in you. She turned to Vic, and then looked past her. There was someone else who she was concerned about, almost as much as Vic.

The redheaded girl named Alcea. Rui watched her out of the corner of her eye, but didn't say a word. She was curious why that girl meant so much to Ryoko, but she had nothing to say to her. All she could do was focus on the test right in front of her, and hope that everything would sort itself out at the end of it.

"Corin, use aura sphere!" Alden ordered. Corin dismissed her aura staff, and began to sculpt her aura into a sphere of energy. She flung it at the advancing Feraligatr.

"Megan, light screen," Wes ordered.

"Meganium!" Green energy began glowing around Megan's body and she summoned a protective barrier around herself and her partner that deflected the aura sphere, to the surprise of Alden and the rest of the trainers.

"So you can use barrier moves too, huh? I'm surprised, why weren't you using them before?" Alden asked, curious.

Wes didn't answer. The only thing he said was "moves like light screen and reflect are vital for double battles. You didn't really think I'd go into battle with you without having a pokemon capable of defending my team with them, did you?"

"Fair enough!" Alden laughed. "But it won't be that easy! Corin, time to smash right through those screens with your brick break attack!"

"Lucario!" Corin nodded, tucking in her head and charging straight for the Feraligatr. She raised her paw and made a fist, ready to smash the light screen to pieces and some of Orgon's ribs too while she was at it.

"Two can play at that game. Orgon, counter with your own brick break," Wes ordered.

"Feraligatr!" Orgon snarled, pulling back his arm and curling his claw into a fist. With practiced precision he anticipated the angle of Corin's attack and swung a punch, the two pokemon's fists colliding, shattering the respective barriers set up by their partners.

The result of the exchange was stunning. Neither Corin nor Orgon was able to force the other pokemon back with the strength of their punch. It was like the two attacks completely nullified each other, reducing the momentum to zero.

Callie was particularly stunned. "No way!" She gasped, knowing just how powerful that Lucario must have been.

Tommy, and some of the other members of the Commander's organization who were used to seeing him fight, were amazed as well. "You're telling me that guy's Feraligatr is strong enough where his punch can nullify the boss's Lucario?!" Tommy shook his head in disbelief. He'd fought against Corin before. He'd seen those punches up close and personal. His Hitmonchan was the punching pokemon, and Corin still overwhelmed them.

This was just unreal. It really did seem that Wes was unbeatable if he could do something like that without blinking.

Vic was the only one who wasn't surprised. Of course her father would be able to match Corin's strength with his pokemon. He was simply that powerful, there was no helping it. All she could do was believe in the Commander and hope that he would still be able to win somehow.

"Come on, Lucario!" Callie shouted. "You can do it, go get him!" Her cheers were surprising to Vic's ears, but welcome as well. She was almost tempted to cheer herself, but she decided against it. That wasn't the kind of person she was. She settled for a silent prayer instead.

Corin herself was a little stunned as well, but she didn't let her surprise overwhelm her. She had experienced many battles by this point, and knew that there was always the possibility of coming across and opponent that was stronger than you expected. She leapt back, ignoring the numbness in her paw, and focused on a new strategy.

"Espeon," Eifa said, turning to her partner. The two pokemon shared a psychic exchange. While neither was capable of direct communication with their trainer, Corin's aura connection with Alden made it easy for her to sense what he wanted sometimes, and now was one of those times. She had a good idea of what she could do to get the drop on these two, she just had to be able to pull it off.

Alden smiled, sensing that his pokemon were going along with his idea. "That's the spirit, you two," he nodded in agreement. "Okay! Go for it! Corin, use extremespeed!"

"Lucario!" Corin tucked in, disappearing in a flash. But it wasn't Orgon she was approaching this time, no, when she reappeared, it was right behind that Meganium.

"Megani-?!" Megan gasped, turning just in time to get a fist in the face.

"Megan, use grass knot," Wes ordered, keeping a cool head. As Corin wound back for another punch she found herself trapped by tendrils of grass, wrapping tightly around her paws and pinning her down. She struggled against her bonds for a second, but it was all for show. She had expected exactly that to happen, after all.

"Espeon!" Eifa's ruby flashed red and the two pokemon glowed. Using ally swap, they switched locations, and now Corin was free once more and it was Eifa who was bound right beside Megan, but with one exception.

The grass bonds that tied up Corin were far looser on the much smaller Espeon, and she slipped out of them swiftly, her ruby glowing red.

"Eifa, psychic!" Alden shouted. Eifa concentrated her psychic powers and struck Megan with a direct blast of psychic energy, sending the pokemon stumbling back. But she didn't get a chance to fall because a crimson aura wrapped around her, hoisting her up into the air.

"Meganium!" Megan roared, thrashing as hard as she could. But with nothing to find purchase on she found herself immobilized in the air.

"Feraligatr!" Orgon shouted, turning back towards his partner. But in doing that, he took his eyes off of Corin, which was a lethal mistake.

Corin dashed forward, raising her paw, and prepared one of her strongest moves. Close combat. It was risky, but she needed all the brute strength she could muster right now to take down that Feraligatr and keep him down. The longer she could keep him from assisting his partner, the more damage Eifa could do with her psychic attacks.

"Go," Alden nodded, and Corin appeared in front of Orgon with her paws raised. The barrage she unleashed was devastating. Punches and kicks rained down on the large pokemon, smashing through the meager defenses that he tried to raise. It was all Orgon could do to hang on against the vicious assault, while Megan was under an assault of her own.

Vic began to feel hopeful. The others were cheering the Commander and his on, and the only thing she could do was watch numbly as she hoped that it would be true. Come on! You can do it! You can beat him! She cheered herself.

"FERALIGATR!" Then the blows stopped.

To everyone's shock, Orgon had withstood the close combat attack, and against all odds managed to spot Corin's fist throughout the barrage, and actually grabbed it in midair. He clutched her paw hard between his claws, glaring at her.

"Counter," Wes snarled.

Orgon pulled Corin forward, dragging her out of her stance, to the shock of the canine pokemon. With his other claw he brought his fist up into Corin's gut, striking her with all the force she'd laid on him with that assault and then some.

It was like something out of a cartoon. Corin FLEW across the battlefield, crashing into the grass and rolling to a stop at the Commander's feet, on the receiving end of an attack twice as strong as one of her strongest, hitting her right when she was the most vulnerable.

"Oh, NO," Callie gasped, her face turning white. As a master of the Fighting type she knew that close combat was one of the strongest moves in a Fighting type pokemon's arsenal, but also one that came with serious drawbacks. By unleashing so much devastating power, the user was left incredibly vulnerable to a counterattack. Their defenses were weakened, providing the perfect opportunity for a powerful pokemon to take advantage.

And Orgon had clearly taken advantage. With how battered her looked from the close combat it was clear that there had to have been a lot of power put into that counter. And with the damage she'd been delt… it was no surprise that Corin wasn't moving.

"No way…" Vic whispered, shaking her head numbly. She couldn't believe it. She REFUSED to believe it. Corin was the Commander's strongest pokemon. There was no way she would go down in a single punch.

But her eyes weren't lying to her.

And then, like a miracle, the Lucario stirred. Panting and coughing blood, Corin rose shakily to her feet, a blue aura covering her body as her eyes burned brightly with resolve. To everyone's relief, it seemed she wasn't out of the fight just yet!

But to Vic, that relief felt hollow. Just because she was wrong and Corin could still fight, that didn't change the severity of her emotions. She couldn't wind back the clock. For the first time in this match, her faith in Alden had truly wavered, and she couldn't pretend that it hadn't.

Her hands were trembling. Why were her hands trembling? That wasn't like her. She hated this. She hated feeling weak and powerless. But she couldn't help it. In so many ways, she was still that little girl who had learned that "weakness is a sin" no matter how many times she tried to deny it. And it just wasn't fair.

While Corin struggled to stay standing, thankfully she was given some respite of her own. Because in spite of the strength of his counter attack, Orgon wasn't in the best of shape himself. Like Corin, he'd taken a very severe beating, and while the damage sustained by the Lucario was larger…

Simply put, Orgon wasn't in any shape to press his advantage at the moment. He clutched his side, where she'd scored a particularly lucky hit, glaring across the battlefield at Corin, who was nursing the bruise forming on her stomach.

The two pokemon shared a strange kind of understanding in their gazes.

At the same time, however, Eifa was feeling pressure of a different kind. Seeing what had happened to her partner had completely broken her concentration, and when she'd turned to look at Corin's fall with concern, she had unfortunately allowed Megan to break free of her psychic hold, and now the Meganium was pressing her advantage.

That was where Alden was focusing his attention right now. He was concerned about Corin's condition, and relieved to see she was still capable of fighting, but right now she was out of the fight and he needed to focus on the pokemon actively engaging with the opponent. That was the way double battles worked, sometimes.

"Keep going, Eifa!" He called. "Use your quick attack to dodge!"

At the moment, Megan was pushing Eifa back with a series of powerful vine whips that were striking right at her feet. Eifa nimbly dodged them while keeping an eye on the grass as well, knowing that it was entirely possible for her opponent to get her from the ground, too. It was a very risky situation she found herself in. She was fighting a Grass type pokemon in an environment that was the perfect territory for her, and she needed to be careful.

Meanwhile, Wes had to be careful himself. That Espeon's ability was Magic Bounce, which meant Megan's status moves would be ineffective. No poison powder to wear her down, no aromatherapy to put her to sleep. He would have to defeat her with pure power, which unfortunately wasn't a field that Megan particularly specialized in.

But he couldn't switch her out just yet, either. She had one more duty left to perform, and then she could go.

"Megan, bullet seed," he ordered.

"Meganium!" Megan puffed up her cheeks and then fired a barrage of seeds like bullets from a machine gun, aiming right for the shining ruby on Eifa's face.

Eifa, shockingly, managed to evade those, too.

"Wow, look at her move!" Callie gasped in amazement. "That's not usual movements from an Espeon, right?"

"She's very agile," Maddi agreed.

"They're just born that way," Rui said cheerfully, knowing that a big part of how quick Alden's Espeon was was due to her parents. Both Wes's Espeon and Umbreon were incredibly fast, and it looked like Eifa had inherited that advantage.

But it wouldn't be enough of an advantage. Unlike moves such as agility that naturally boosted a pokemon's speed, quick attack was a move that required constant use. So even if Eifa could evade with quick attacks, she couldn't do it forever, and she couldn't strike back, either.

Wes could see she was starting to tire, and that's when he pulled out the trump card.

"Now, seed bomb."

As the last string of bullet seeds ran out, Eifa was faced with a barrage of a different kind. The seeds coming towards her exploded in a chain of shockwaves that startled her, causing her to lose her balance and be rocked with even more explosions.

"Oh no!" Vic gasped.

"Corin!" Alden didn't even have to look at his pokemon to know if she was ready to jump back into the fray. He trusted Corin completely. She would be able to step in and help her partner, she always was, after all.

"Lucario!" Corin ran forward, shrugging off the pain of her injuries. Her extremespeed carried her past the stunned Feraligatr, bringing her right to Megan's back. She jumped up and raised her paw, aiming for right behind the pokemon's throat, just above her flower.

But Megan had expected that. She whipped her head around and slammed her long neck into Corin's stomach, knocking her out of the sky.

Corin choked, feeling pain surge through an already-sensitive spot. She shouldn't have taken that much damage from a Normal type headbutt, but it still hurt her. But she was used to taking big hits. She rolled back to minimize the damage and landed on her feet, but that was just the beginning. Megan had never meant to cause serious damage with her attack.

She'd just been trying to disrupt Corin's flow. And she'd done that perfectly, giving her just the opening she needed.

Alden was confused for a moment about why Megan hadn't attacked. Then he saw that it wasn't necessary any longer.

She'd already laid the seed of her assault with the headbutt. And now those seeds were starting to grow.

Green vines shot out of Corin's fur and began to wrap around her body, constricting her arms and legs and wrapping up to her throat. They started choking her, and she struggled to regain her balance as she swatted at them.

Alcea knew what it was in an instant. "Leech seed," she whispered. "A very effective strategy for dealing with strong pokemon, is it?"

"Excellently done, Megan, return," Wes said, calling Megan back to her pokeball. "Lunet, come back out."

"Umbreon!" Lunet leapt from his pokeball and glared at the stunned Lucario, who snarled back at him, charging forward. But even as Corin approached, she felt herself growing weaker as the strength was sapped out of her.

"Corin, return," Alden said, raising his pokeball. She'd already suffered serious damage from the counter, and if leech seed was draining her then she couldn't last long.

But the light of the pokeball wasn't working. Corin wasn't returning.

Lunet snarled, glaring at Corin with his mean look. Under his intimidating glare, Corin was frozen in place; the Commander wouldn't be able to bring her back, and that mean the leech seed was here to stay.

Uh-oh! That's not good! Alden was turning things around for a little while there, but now his trump card has taken a major blow! And if that's not bad enough, she's feeling the effects of leech seed slowly start to wear her down, as well! Will Corin be able to escape from her entanglement? Or will she futilely struggle as her strength is drained away?