Eve has completely lost it and gone on a murderous rampage. Will everyone be able to calm her down? Or will she just go crazy and start killing people? What will Maddi be able to do to stop her? Will everyone make it out alive?! Remember to review!
The Elimination Round of the Pokemon Academy Best Girl Contest 3 has started! Make sure to get those votes in, we've only got a couple of people who have voted so far! Please, make sure to get those votes in! You can vote for up to 5 girls, so make sure your favorites have a chance to shine!
Nominated: Ange, Ayame, Caelia, Chloe, Cynthia, Donoma, Elaina, Kate, Maddi, Marion, Misato, Ryoko, Sango, Satsuki, Sylvia, Vic
KedharS: Professor Decker maybe kind of deserves it.
Hyphenman: We'll have to see, won't we? Hopefully the climax will be suitably climactic, though I doubt the Phantom is dying here.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 978
Maddi had always thought that she was a regular person who'd had a few bad breaks. Considering all the people she'd lost at such a young age, she'd held onto her pokemon tightly and always thought that the strength of her bond with them was because they had been there for her.
But now she knew the truth. It was more than that, so much more. She had a strange power, this harmonia, and it allowed her to communicate with pokemon on a deeper level than most other people could.
Not just her pokemon, but practically any pokemon. And the problem with that came when she experienced the true anger and hatred she felt coming from Eve. She didn't, at first, even know what Eve was. But now she did. Everything about the artificial pokemon was coming off of her in waves, causing her to feel overwhelmed.
A clone of a pokemon named Mew, a pokemon capable of adapting perfectly to any foe by taking on the characteristics of other pokemon, and finally, a pokemon that was the clone of Dakota Evans, a human being.
After learning all that, and feeling what she was currently going through, Maddi just didn't know what to do anymore. She knew that if she left Eve to her own devices in her current state, the pokemon would probably kill Valon, Misato, and Wes, and then come down to finish her off, as well. And after that, well… who could say, at that point?
Maddi couldn't let that happen. She had to fight. She had to use her pokemon to take that girl down, but how could she? Her pokemon weren't strong enough. Even if she had all of her carefully crafted teams with her, even if she used them all at once, it wouldn't be enough to take that girl down, she just knew it.
"Eevee?" Vee stared at her worriedly. Maddi tried to smile, but it was pointless. Part of harmonia meant that she didn't just read the feelings of other pokemon, but when she had a connection with those pokemon they could read her feelings as well.
"I'm sorry…" She whispered, trembling. "I don't… I don't know what to do…"
If only there was some way she could fight. Some way to turn the tide and give her even the slightest advantage over the other pokemon.
"Eevee!" Vee insisted. He reached down and lifted something up with his teeth, showing it to her. Maddi blinked, taking a second to realize what she was seeing.
"You… you can't be serious," she said, shaking her head. Why would he even think about something like that?!
"Vee!" Vee said, nodding rapidly.
In his mouth was the syringe containing the µ Gene.
Maddi felt her mouth dry up. She knew what her Eevee was suggesting, she could feel Vee's willingness to fight radiating off of him.
"But I can't do that," she said weakly. "We don't… we don't know what will happen to you, Vee, if I give that to you!" She pleaded. "The effects could be dreadful, you could transform, turn into something awful, no, no, I just can't, please, you have to understand!"
Vee stared at her long and hard. He had already made up his mind. Maddi could feel it, and for a brief moment the hope in his eyes pushed past how overwhelming Eve's hatred was.
"I'm sorry…" She whispered, taking the syringe from Vee's mouth.
"Get back you fucking monster!" Valon spat, firing shot after shot at Eve. It was pointless, with his deranged state he couldn't keep her at bay, she just deflected the bullets by turning her scythe, while stalking forward, ready to end his miserable existence.
"You can't do this!" Valon emptied the clip and she kept coming. "You can't! You're just… a worthless… tool! You can't oppose me! I'm better than you! I'm evolved! I'm the future of humanity, you're just some pathetic lab experiment!"
"I'm killing you now," Eve said, raising her blade overhead.
"No! Please!" Valon tossed his gun aside and raised his arms pathetically, trying to futilely protect himself from her attack.
It was meaningless in the end, because Eve never had a chance to strike. A burst of flame billowed towards her and she whirled around, holding up her other arm. It turned into a shield that blocked the attack, but she still slipped back across the deck, trying to withstand the force of the move.
The Phantom let out a confused, giddy laugh as he slumped over, unable to understand how he was still alive.
"What the hell?!" Wes turned weakly to see what had happened, and was shocked by what he saw. A Flareon had leapt out of the hole in the desert, his fur practically glowing as he growled at Eve, embers rising up around him. His mouth was wide open and a wave of fire was shooting forth, pushing Eve backwards.
"…A pokemon?" Wes knew that Maddi had an Eevee, but did she had a Flareon as well?
"Wes!" Maddi climbed up out of the hole in the ground, standing beside the Flareon. "Are you okay?! I'm sorry it took so long!"
"Madison, what the hell are you doing here?!" Wes exploded. "This is too dangerous! Get away from here, wait for the authorities to arrive!" Even with his pokemon, in his current condition, against a foe like that, Wes couldn't imagine a way to win. He didn't think Maddi could, either. Right now, his biggest concern was keeping her alive.
That was Maddi's concern too. She just had a different way of going about it than he did.
"You don't have to worry about me," she assured him with a smile. It was an attempt at confidence, but unfortunately Maddi didn't feel very confident. "I'm going to do the best I can, and Vee and I will take her down!"
"Vee? Your Eevee? He evolved?" Wes sputtered in disbelief.
"…Something like that," Maddi smiled at her Flareon. "Don't worry, we've got this."
"Flareon!" Vee nodded in agreement, smiling back at her. They were working in perfect sync.
Wes shook his head. "No, you don't understand, that girl, she's too powerful, she can't be defeated with regular pokemon!"
"Uraaah! Back off!" Eve spat, swinging her shield and finally deflecting the flames, leaping into the air on Blaziken legs. She touched down on the ground, glaring at Maddi and Vee. "Every time, you people just keep getting in the way! I need to get my revenge!"
"Yeah, I get it!" Maddi shouted. "Fuck that guy, honestly, but still, I'm not going to let you do that!" She replied.
"Why not!?" Eve demanded. "Do you have any idea what he's done? What he did to me?! He can't be allowed to live!"
"Yeah, I know," Maddi seethed. "I probably know better than you do."
Maddi didn't have any proof, of course. But with what Dakota had showed her, and what she'd learned today, she had a pretty concrete idea that it was the Phantom who was responsible for the attack on Silph Co.
Which meant he was responsible for taking her parents away from her.
If she was being honest with herself, there was nothing Maddi wanted more at this moment than to see him dead. But she couldn't give into those feelings, it wouldn't be right. She needed to compose herself and do the right thing.
Besides, if she saw the Phantom get ripped to pieces by this girl while connected to her with harmonia, she doubted she'd ever be able to get to sleep.
So no. Not going to happen.
"I'm going to stop you," Maddi promised. "Vee and I. We're able to do it, just watch!"
Eve smirked. So far, she'd faced down every threat that came her way, without flinching. She was prepared to do it again. She doubted that girl and her pokemon could do anything to stop her at this point, or anyone else.
"If you get in my way, then I'll kill you first!" She growled, raising her arms. Her hands turned from a blade and shield into two large cannons. She fired two massive spouts of water at the Fire type pokemon. "Hydro pump!"
"Vee!" Maddi shouted, connecting to her pokemon with harmonia. They shared a silent connection, which was how Vee knew exactly what to do.
To Wes's disbelief, the Flareon's body began to change. His fur evened out and laid flat against his body as it lightened from a deep orange-red and gold to a light sea blue. The large mane around his neck turned into a large fin, and his tail elongated into a bisected fish's flipper.
"Vaporeon!" The Flareon- no, the Vaporeon called out, finishing his transformation just as the water slammed into him.
The water didn't go far. With his Water Absorb ability, Vee completely nullified the effects of the attack, much to Eve's shock.
"What?!" Eve roared in disbelief, firing more blasts of water at Vee.
"That won't work on us!" Maddi smirked. "You're not the only pokemon capable of changing form, not anymore!"
"H-How… how?!" Eve exclaimed. She was too far gone to realize that the pokemon standing in the sand across from her was just like her.
"The µ Gene…" Wes breathed in understanding. "You used it on him, didn't you? Your Eevee! You transformed him, into… into…!"
"I did what I had to do," Maddi said coldly. "Vee wanted this."
"But you don't know what side-effects it could have!" Wes protested. "Eve, she…"
"It happened to me, remember?" Maddi asked, reaching up to caress her blue eye. "Now Vee and I are the same. Well… not quite the same. But he's got the power to handle her now!"
"So you're a Water type now, big deal!" Eve spat. She dropped her hands to the sides, and her body began to shift again. This time, a long yellow and black striped tail ending in a shiny golden orb shot out of her back. "Have a taste of thunderbolt, then!"
Eve's hands crackled with electricity, and she released a powerful bolt that flew straight at the Vaporeon.
Vee smiled, and Maddi nodded. Vee's fur stuck out on end and burned bright gold, and he transformed once more, taking on the appearance of a Jolteon.
When the lightning struck Vee, it supercharged him, making use of his Volt Absorb ability to boost him more and nullify the attack again.
Eve couldn't believe this. "How?! How do you keep transforming!"
"Weren't you listening?" Maddi asked. "The µ Gene. The same thing that created you, and gave birth to your powers. I used it on Vee, and awakened the DNA hidden inside of him. Did you think that Mew was the only pokemon whose DNA could be altered to call upon the DNA of other pokemon? No. Eevee is the pokemon with the power of potential, a pokemon who can evolve into countless forms! Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, Glaceon, Sylveon, my Vee can transform into anything at will, and that means he's able to beat you!"
"Impossible!" Eve roared. "I can turn into ANY pokemon!"
"Maybe," Maddi shrugged. "But unlike you, I wasn't born yesterday." She looked really smug when she said that, then had to think for a moment. "…Or, I guess, like an hour ago. Whatever, it sounded cool! The point is, you might be able to turn into more pokemon than my Vee, but that won't matter!" She slapped her chest proudly.
"Because I'm here!"
"…You?" Eve said incredulously, shaking her head. "And what can you do?"
Maddi smirked. "You have no way of knowing this, but the truth is, out of all the trainers at the Pokemon Academy, I probably have the most pokemon. That's because I keep catching them, raising them up to be the perfect teams. Pokemon of every type, I've crafted 18 different teams of them, as well as the pokemon I raise for my own, perfect team. And do you know why that is?"
Eve didn't even know what that was, she had no context for any of this.
"Because I'm an expert on pokemon types!" Maddi proclaimed. "I know all the weaknesses and resistances and how to capitalize on them better than anybody. And that's how I know I'm going to beat you, because this is a battle of type matchups, and even if you're stronger than I am, Vee and I working together are way smarter than you are!"
Eve narrowed her eyes. "Try it," she growled, and the ground began to shake. Her arms turned into the bladed fins of a Garchomp and she charged forward, releasing an earthquake through the ground that threatened to collapse the professor's lab beneath their feet.
"Shit!" Wes cursed. This wasn't good. Yes, Maddi had made excellent use of her knowledge of type matchups to give her pokemon the edge, ordering Vee to transform into whichever type would allow her to nullify Eve's attacks. But there wasn't a Flying type evolution for Eevee, at least not one that he knew of!"
But Maddi wasn't bothered by that.
"When the µ Gene transformed Vee into a pokemon capable of evolving into any one of his forms, it didn't just change his appearance," she explained. "It also gave him the ability to use all of that pokemon's moves, same as you! Now go, Vee!"
"Jolteon!" Vee nodded, his body shifting again. His spiny fur lay flat down his back and he turned purple, his tail breaking into two parts as a ruby sprouted out on his forehead. He transformed into a pokemon that Wes knew well.
"Telekinesis!" Maddi ordered, and her Espeon began to glow red, the ruby on his forehead shining brightly as he lifted himself into the air, easily avoiding the power of the earthquakes threatening to overwhelm him.
Eve ground her teeth together in frustration. "Well, fine then!" She roared, her body changing once more, this time growing the spines of a Gengar as her eyes turned bright red. "Then take my shadow ball!"
She flung the orb of ghostly energy at the levitating Espeon, but again, it had no effect. That was because Vee transformed once more, but not into any evolution of Eevee. He returned to his normal self, a Normal type pokemon, causing the attack to pass harmlessly through him. He landed on the sand, smiling proudly.
Eve was at the end of her rope. This pokemon continued to make fun of her, mocking her, treating her like… like!
She didn't even know why she was upset at this point. Her hatred for the Phantom had been put aside for now, and she was feeling overwhelmed with frustration at not being able to take out this stupid Eevee and its evolutions. She raised her arms, and they grew in size as she bulked up, followed by two more sets of arms.
"A Machamp now, huh?" Maddi smirked. "Okay, Vee! You know what to do!"
"Eevee!" Vee grinned, and he grew, transforming into a Sylveon next. As Eve unleashed a barrage of punches at Vee, he skillfully avoided each of them, deflecting her arms away with his ribbons and relying on his small size and agility.
"Moonblast!" Maddi ordered.
Vee opened his mouth, his body glowing pink. He fired a compressed blast of fairy energy that hit Eve at point-blank range knocking her backwards. Eve flew through the air and hit the ground, and then rolled through the sand. She came to a stop when she slammed into the bow of the ship.
"Urgh…" Eve groaned, nursing her aching head.
That was it, the moment Maddi was waiting for. She needed to toss Eve around a little first to snap her out of her murderous rage, and the head wound was enough to finally, finally open a tiny little gap in the girl's heart.
Maddi capitalized on it immediately, using her newfound harmonia to forge a connection with the dazed pokemon-human hybrid.
"Eve," she mentally called out to the girl, reaching out and touching her heart. "Eve, can you hear me? Please tell me if you can hear me!"
"Wh-What?" Eve blinked, feeling an odd tug in her head and chest. Someone was… speaking to her? Connecting to her somehow, but not through her words. It was…
What was this?
"What's going on?" Eve demanded aloud, not bothering using the connection that Maddi was struggling to establish. She was pushing back against Maddi, but Maddi refused to let her go.
"Can you feel my heart right now?" Maddi asked. "I don't know how this is supposed to work, but… I don't want you to lose yourself! So please, tell me if you can feel me calling out to you, please Eve! I'm just trying to help!"
Eve couldn't believe what she was hearing. Or, well, feeling.
"Help?" She snorted in disbelief. "You're trying to help?! Then don't get in my way, don't attack me! I'm just trying to… trying to…"
Now that she'd had a chance to calm down, her conversation with Wes was flooding back into her. That's right, she didn't want to kill people, she was just… she'd lost control, and…
"I'm looking for… somebody…" Eve remembered. "I almost forgot…" She raised her head in shock. "You beat me… how? The others, they… their pokemon, I was able to defeat them… they were stronger than you, but still, you… how?"
It was a natural curiosity. While she hated her origin as a living pokemon weapon, she couldn't deny the urge to fight welling up inside her, hence why she was so curious how Maddi could have won. Even with a transforming Eevee, it shouldn't be possible.
Maddi approached the girl, in spite of Wes's shouts for her to stop. She knelt down beside her. "Listen, Eve. The reason that Vee and I were able to fight you like that… it's because we're a team."
"A… team?" Eve didn't understand that word.
"I worked with Vee. We were partners," Maddi explained. "The Phantom… Misato… they used their pokemon as tools. But obtaining harmonia, I realized… no, I always knew, but I felt it more clearly now than ever before, the fact that humans and pokemon are the perfect partners. You understand? A pokemon and a human working together is something truly special."
A small smile crossed Eve's face. She held her hand over her chest. "You're… warm. I can feel you here."
"R-Really?" Maddi asked, surprised.
"In the lab… I was so cold and alone. I just had that voice calling out to me. It was the only thing that made me happy. But you, feeling you… is this what 'partners' is?"
Maddi frowned. "I-I don't know," she admitted. "I'm not the best at, well… connecting to other people, I suppose. "But I still think that-"
"You aren't my partner," Eve interrupted her. Her face took on a cold, almost sad look. "You're kind and warm, but… you aren't the one I want to be with."
She shoved Maddi away from her. It was a lot nicer than how she treated the last human she wasn't satisfied with. Eve rose to her feet, shaking, and stared up at the sky.
"I'm going," she whispered. "Don't stop me."
Maddi smiled. She could feel that Eve had a bit of a breakthrough here, and while she didn't know what the future would hold for the girl, she knew it would be wrong to try and hold her back. And she honestly didn't think she could.
"Okay then."
Eve spread her wings, white as an angel's, and shot up into the air, disappearing into the sky.
She hovered high above the desert of Orre, closing her eyes. Tuning her psychic powers, she began to search for the owner of the voice that had called out to her when she was asleep. The person that her heart kept yearning for.
Well, Maddi managed to calm Eve down and fight her off, some way or another. Hopefully that was enough. But what are we going to do now? What will the fallout of this whole mess be?