Eve has been soothed and fled. As for everyone else, it's time to see what the fallout of this whole mess will be. Hopefully everything's okay. Will Professor Decker be okay? What about Maddi and Wes? What will happen to the Phantom and Misato?

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: Well, Maddi's a very calm person naturally, so that's to be expected I suppose. She does tell Cynthia to chill a lot.

Hyphenman: That would certainly suck, but I don't know if he's in any condition to do that, after all, he's out of bullets.

Leppyvstheworld: Yep, it was certainly exciting to see him cower like that.

Tambry96bj: I guess we'll have to see.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 979

The shockwave caused by Eve taking to the sky was powerful enough to knock Maddi off of her feet. She fell hard on her ass into the sand and a stab of pain shot through her skull, but unlike all the previous times, this time it didn't feel that terrible. Her eye still hurt, but she wondered if this was how harmonia was supposed to feel.

Eve was a blip in the sky for another second before she was completely gone, moving too fast for anybody to see.

Maddi let out the breath she'd been holding and collapsed. Dealing with Eve had been the most stressful thing imaginable, and she had been struggling to keep from completely losing her shit. If it hadn't been for Vee's support, she never would have been as brave as she had been just now. But now it had passed, and the weight of what she'd done was starting to sink in, and she began to completely freak out.

I just fought against a pokemon capable of turning into anything… a pokemon who could take on the powers and strengths of every pokemon… and I'm still alive… Maddi had to laugh at the ridiculousness, she couldn't help herself. It had just slipped out. She burst out laughing and fell back into the sand, feeling the hot sun beat down on her as she cackled like a lunatic.

She hadn't won. There was no way to consider what she'd just gone through as a victory. The only way one could think about it like that was by thinking that the fact Maddi was still alive counted as a victory. And for Maddi, that wasn't quite incorrect. Emerging unscathed against such a powerful foe was definitely a victory by some measure of thinking.

But in her opinion, it just wasn't enough. More important was the fact that she had been able to keep everyone alive, and fought off Eve long enough to get through to her, which let her convince the girl to just leave.

When looking at the battle from that perspective, in Maddi's eyes, it was a victory, but was also a loss. So she considered it to be a draw, and decided it was best to end things there. No sense in any further stress, in her opinion, now they just needed to-

Maddi sprung up in the sand. That's right! The Phantom was still around! She couldn't take it easy right now!

"Eevee?" Vee looked at her, confused, after having reverted to his original form. Her harmonia wasn't active right now, but at this point, she didn't need it to get a good idea of what he was thinking. He was asking what was wrong, obviously.

"We need to go find that scumbag," Maddi growled. But there was another matter that deserved her attention as well. "Hey, Wes…"

Maddi turned to see how Wes was doing, and sighed in relief. He wasn't in as bad of shape as she thought. Sure, his blood was covering the desert, but that was mostly from his shoulder injury. It looked like he didn't have any broken bones, which she thought was a good thing.

"Come on," Wes growled, just as upset as Maddi was. The two of them were on the same page about the Phantom situation.

Maddi swallowed and nodded, reaching into her pocket. "Here, I got these back for you," she said, handing him his pokeballs. She didn't like it, but she felt like they were going to be necessary pretty damn soon.

With the help of Maddi, Wes used the rope ladder to climb back aboard the S.S. Libra. What he saw when he got there soured his expression.

"What the hell?!" Maddi sputtered in disbelief. "Where'd he go?!"

The Phantom was gone, and so was Misato. Their pokemon were missing as well. The only trace that they'd ever been there were the signs of carnage wreaked by Eve and Misato's fight, and the spent shell casings.

Wes squinted at the sight of a jeep driving off in the distance.

"He got away," he growled.

Technically, the Phantom wasn't the one who'd gotten away. He was in no shape to do anything of the sort, in fact. He'd been completely drained, barely having the energy left to stand after what he'd been through, his battered arm killing him.

Misato had been the one to help him. She'd picked him up with one hand and carried him over her shoulder, jumped from the S.S. Libra, and returned to their jeep, and now she was driving him back to Phenac City.

They had both been through quite an ordeal. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Misato was in worse condition of the two, but as a Mechadoll she was capable of maintaining her higher functions even after taking significant damage like she had. She would need to affect emergency repairs when she got the opportunity. Fortunately, all of her "luggage" was relegated to equipment that would help maintain her functionality.

The same couldn't be said for Valon, whose flesh and blood body was considerably more fragile than Misato's artificial one. His wrist was killing him, and he suspected that he had some significant other issues as well. But he didn't have the luxury of concerning himself with that.

"That bitch…" He seethed, picturing Eve's face in his mind. "To think she'd be able to resist me like that… she should just be a pokemon, and yet…"

He knew he couldn't consider Eve as "just" a pokemon. She was more than that, after all. She still had the DNA of Dakota Evans pumping through her veins, which was part of what he held responsible for Eve's actions back there.

The professor created that girl to be the perfect pokemon… but like a fool, did nothing to make sure she'd be dependent on him. What did he expect was going to happen? Of course she rebelled against him and tried to escape.

Even with all the pain he was in, the Phantom still smiled. That foolish old man… in the end, dying at the hand of your own creation is exactly what you deserve.

There was nothing to be smiling about, the Phantom's mission had been a total failure. Even after all that effort, he hadn't been able to retrieve the professor's masterpiece, or even been able to recover any data because the old man's lab had been almost completely destroyed. By any measure, the mission was a total failure.

There were only two things that could be considered a remote success with the escape of that girl Eve. The first was that Professor Decker himself likely did not have long to live, after what Eve had done to him, and the second was what he had seen right before Misato had forced him to flee, an unexpected boon.

That Eevee… it was capable of transforming into various forms… Flareon… Vaporeon… Jolteon… Espeon… Sylveon…

A wicked smile crossed the Phantom's lips. To think that she would use the µ Gene on one of her pokemon… and force its body to mutate in such ways… oh, this is far too amazing to consider! With a pokemon like that in my hands…

Eve had slipped through his fingers. While he would keep looking for her, of course, he had other things to prioritize. He couldn't jeopardize the entire Renegade System over a single pokemon, even if it was the most powerful pokemon he'd ever seen.

But that Eevee? Maddi went to school at the Pokemon Academy. He would have multiple opportunities to acquire that pokemon, and arrange for Maddi to have a little… accident.

With his goals now set, there was only one thing that awaited him in the Orre Region, and it lied at the top of Mt. Battle. In the meantime, he would need to come up with a justification for where he'd been and what had happened to him. He expected that Kiana wouldn't react well when she saw what state he was in.

Don't worry, Ange, you'll get to go to Agate Village, Valon promised. But first, we're going to need to make a little stop…

He'd been letting Kiana dictate their destinations until now because he hadn't minded. They were going where she wanted to go, after all. But according to Sylvia, this facility on Mt. Battle was the kind of place that wasn't hospitable to tourists. He doubted Kiana would be open to something like that, especially considering the condition he'd be returning in.

But even then, he didn't need to concern himself too much. He wrapped up his bleeding wrist with the first-aid kit from the jeep, and stared out at the desert stretching around him. Between what had just happened, and what was likely to happen when he returned, today would certainly be an interesting day. That was for sure.

Meanwhile, the authorities from Phenac City were amassing at the S.S. Libra. After Wes's report, they brought emergency medical evacuation units and even a helicopter to lift out Professor Decker and transport him to the nearest hospital.

Maddi and Wes watched the chopper fly away. The police had been rather nice, giving them blankets and mugs of hot cocoa to deal with the shock of what happened. That would be lovely if it was nighttime in the winter, but in the middle of the scorching desert heat, blankets and cocoa weren't the most helpful things in the world.

Of course, if anyone tried to take Maddi's drink away she'd scratch their eyes out. Cocoa was cocoa after all.

Wes's shoulder was thankfully not in as terrible shape as Maddi had thought. The bullet had gone right through, and they were able to treat it on the scene. He didn't even need to go to the hospital over it, which was fortunate. Which meant he could stay back and answer questions.

"So that's the whole story, then?" The officer said, raising his eyebrow. "You two were here visiting your friend, when a couple of terrorists attacked, and blew up the laboratory after having one of their pokemon stab him, is that right?"

Maddi glanced at Wes, who was nodding along with that.

"Yes, that's absolutely correct, officer," Wes said. "We tried to interfere, but they were too strong. Once the lab blew up, they must have assumed we were killed in the explosion and then got away. We were just lucky that the blast went mostly upwards, or we really might have been killed."

She was amazed by how good of an actor he was. He really sounded like a frightened and worried father even when he was spewing so much bullcrap.

"I see… and you didn't get a description of the terrorists, is that right?" The man sounded a lot more suspicious about that. Maddi couldn't blame him, that was one of the more Farfetch'd elements of their little fib.

But Wes handled it like an expert. She suspected he'd had more than his fair amount of experience lying to the authorities. "That's right, sir. They were wearing uniforms from Team Cipher, do you remember them? I'm worried that they might be the remnants of the old Team Cipher, trying to get the professor's help to rebuild their organization."

Smooth. It wasn't exactly a lie, there was a lot of truth mixed into that one. Maddi had to applaud him for his smart thinking.

"Why would they come out to a place like this in the middle of nowhere?" The police officer asked with a frown. "What exactly was this scientist friend of yours working on that was so valuable they'd even kill for it?"

That was a question that he definitely couldn't answer. It was fortunate that Eve and Misato's rampage had destroyed most of the professor's lab, meaning there weren't many traces of his experiments left. The worst thing Wes could imagine was more Eves being created, especially in the hands of the government. If he had his way, the professor's research would be buried in the sand forever, never to see the light of day.

But he couldn't just come out and say that. So as he tried to think of a compelling explanation, it was Maddi who came to his aid this time.

"Professor Decker?" She snorted. "Who even knows? I mean, he's retired at this point, isn't he? The only reason we even came here is because he's teaching at my school now. I have no idea what people like that would want from a guy like him."

The police officer raised his eyebrow, confused.

Wes jammed his elbow into her side.

"Ah!" Maddi gasped. That was right. She couldn't be her usual acerbic self, she was playing a role right now, and had to pretend to be the meek, traumatized high school student.

She began to shake, and then burst into tears. "It… it was terrifying! They were so scary, and they had guns, and demanded that we all do what they say! They-They shot Mr. Carver, and then they threatened to shoot me if I didn't obey! I-I was so scared! Uwaaaaah!"

God she wanted to die. It was the most humiliating thing of her life.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through something that scary," the police officer said gently, placing his hand on her shoulder. "But it's alright. You're safe now. You did the right thing, you survived. You couldn't have done better."

"…Okay," Maddi sniffled. She actually felt kind of bad, leading him on like this. Kinda.

Wes placed a comforting arm over Maddi's shoulder, another performance.

"One more thing," the police officer added, "can I ask what's the relationship between the two of you? It's strange to see folks like yourselves traveling alone like this."

"She's a student who my wife is chaperoning," Wes explained. "She said she wanted to go visit her teacher, but the other students didn't want to leave Agate Village, so I…"

"Agate Village?" The police officer said sharply, raising his eyebrow. "My, you two have really traveled quite a ways."

Crap! Wes screamed at himself. He had meant to say Phenac City! Agate Village was practically on the other side of the region!

"I can be really annoying," Maddi said, coming to Wes's aid again. "So Mr. Carver agreed to take me here just so I would be quiet."

She looked down, forcing regret onto her face. "I shouldn't have done anything."

"W-Well, that's not quite true," the officer cleared his throat, looking a little flustered. "Because the two of you were there, you were able to call us, and we could come in and take care of the professor. If not for you, then it's possible no one would have come out, and he might have died. You two are heroes, young lady."

Maddi felt a swell of pride at the police officer's statement. That was strange. She certainly hadn't considered herself a hero prior to this, but the way he said it… well, it's not like she could just dismiss it, right? She smiled in spite of herself.

Wes cleared his throat. "Is there anything else we can help you with, officer?"

He shook his head. "No, you've done plenty. Now, if you like, we can give you a ride? We can't go all the way to Agate Village, but we can at least take your bike back to Phenac City with us, if that's fine with you two?"

Maddi glanced at Wes. To be honest, she was exhausted. She'd been through a lot today, hearing that she was going to die, learning that she had harmonia, of all things, as well learning the truth about her parents and the suspicious things they'd done, and then hearing about how they died, confronting their killer, and nearly dying herself? Not to mention using the µ Gene on Vee, giving him new transforming powers and then using those powers to fight off Eve, an artificial pokemon-human hybrid and clone of Mew with amazing abilities and managing to survive.

And it wasn't even lunchtime yet!

Oh yeah, she was exhausted. She needed a good night's sleep, maybe three nights' worth, and she definitely didn't want to get on that motorcycle anytime soon. She glanced over at Wes, willing him with her mind to agree.

The old man got the message, thank god, and nodded in agreement. "Okay, that sounds like a plan," he said. "Thank you for being so helpful."

The police officer grinned and tipped his hat. "It's our job, sir," he nodded, and led them to one of the desert cruisers for offroading.

The drive back to Phenac City was a lot bumpier than Wes's motorcycle had been, but Maddi didn't mind. There was more than enough room to stretch out, lie down, and get some much-needed sleep. As she did, she thought about all the lies they'd told, and why they'd told them.

Of course, there was no way they could tell the police about Eve. Even if they encountered her in the future, people would likely dismiss it as some new pokemon. It seemed like new pokemon were being discovered every year anyway, so that wasn't too big of a deal.

But there was still the concern about learning she had been artificially created. If a government agency or private entity learned it was possible to create an artificial pokemon, let alone one as strong as Eve, they would attempt it without hesitation. And that… that would be very bad. The last thing the world needed was more Eves running around.

As for the lies about the Phantom and Misato… that was something Maddi was less sure about. She went to school with those two. She didn't want to think about what would happen when she got back. In her mind, it was better to leave something like that to the authorities, and just arrest the bastard already.

Wes had explained it clearly, though. Misato was a Mechadoll. She wasn't something that could be easily contained by the police. If they tried to arrest either one of them, she would go on a rampage and that would lead to serious casualties. No, the Phantom needed to be handled some other way, something that wouldn't endanger people's lives.

Maddi heard his explanation, and she understood where he was coming from. Though as far as she was concerned, it was a load of BS. If Misato was such a danger, then they needed to stop her, now, as well as the Phantom, before they did something even worse.

Maybe she'd talk with Wes about it later. But right now, her eyelids were getting heavy, and she just wanted to get to sleep. She dozed off with her head resting against Wes's shoulder and a relieved smile on her face.

Wow, Maddi's really been through a lot today. Thankfully she was able to make it through okay, and hopefully, she won't get into anymore trouble. She deserves a rest.