Alden and Vic's battle has reached the climax! Alden has three pokemon still remaining, while Vic is down to her last, Valkyrie. What will happen? Will Alden be able to defeat her final pokemon? Or will Vic turn everything around, and completely overwhelm him? Hopefully he'll be able to make it through this intact, if not… things are going to be very tough for him, that's for sure. Remember to review!

KedharS: We'll pop in on them really quick.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Winning a 3-on-1 would be quite a feat, wouldn't it? And yes, Vic's last pokemon is a really cool one.

Hyphenman: I don't know, we'll have to see how this goes. And that's true, he HAS to win.

Gyvarius: I won't be accepting any characters for a while yet, sorry.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1118

"Ughh, of course," Donoma sighed, shaking her head. In front of her was a swarm of Pawnyiard, with three Bisharp at the front. The workers had amassed a small little army of the pokemon, and were threatening to overwhelm her.

"Leave it to the region next to Unova to be filled with these things," she grumbled. "Steel types. Why did it have to be Steel types?"

Chloe and Ian weren't doing much better. They'd run out of places to run, and now it was down to being forced to put up a fight. Hardening her resolve, Donoma was forced to actually give a shit. She reached for her belt and sent out her next pokemon.

While that was going on, in the Battle Tower, things had gotten even more intense. Vic was down to only one pokemon, and was sending her out into battle.

The results were shocking.

"What?" Rui gasped, her jaw dropping. "Is… Is that Valkyrie?"

"I've never seen a pokemon like that before!" Anabel cried in amazement.

Even Alden was caught off-guard. Vic had sent out Valkyrie, a pokemon that he'd seen in battle many times. Her Bishap's skills were part of what made Vic such a threat.

But that wasn't what he was looking at. The blade that had once been on Valkyrie's head was no elongated, looking more like a horn or a full sword. At the same time, the other blades on her helmet jutted out, turning back to resemble more swords, or in this case, a strange mustache. It was odd, given that she was a female pokemon. The long hair that flowed down her back was a little more in keeping with that, and her armor was designed differently as well. She crouched on the battlefield, glaring at Alden's pokemon, Corin in particular.

"Vic… is that… really Valkyrie?" Alden asked. He couldn't believe it.

"Do you like her new look?" Vic smirked, her eyes gleaming. "Valkyrie… of all my pokemon, she's been one of my strongest. But she wasn't strong enough to catch your eye… not ever. But when I accepted Samarra into myself, she showed me how much further we could still grow. And now… Valkyrie has evolved into Kingambit."

"King," Valkyrie hissed, rising up and turning her blade-covered hand towards Corin.

"A new evolution of Bisharp… that's not good," Anabel said, biting their fingernail. "But then… if it's still a Dark/Steel type pokemon, then Alden and Corin should still be fine…"

"Th-That's right!" Rui said, nodding rapidly. "After all, Alden still has three pokemon left, and Victoria only has one!" She could feel the strength coming off of the Kingambit, of course, so she knew how hollow her words sounded. But she still wanted to believe.

"KINGAMBIT!" Valkyrie roared, and she began to glow with a dark aura.

"What's with this power?!" Anabel shouted, raising their arms to shield themselves. Alden winced and took a step back as well.

Rui and Anabel could both feel Valkyrie getting stronger and stronger, and it wasn't just due to Vic's harmonia. No, there was something else at play here, and they didn't know what it was.

"That's Valkyrie's new ability," Vic said, smirking. "Supreme Overlord." Her eyes widened and she shouted madly, "with the power of this ability, she gains strength from the fallen! For each of my fainted pokemon, her attack and special attack stats rise by 10%!"

"But all of Vic's pokemon have fainted!" Rui gasped. "That's a 50% boost in power!"

"That's not good," Anabel said, narrowing their eyes.

"Valkyrie, go! Iron head!" Vic ordered.

"Kingambit!" Valkyrie charged forward and lowered her head, smashing the long blade into Mimi. She impaled the pokemon's disguise with the sword and Mimi collapsed to the ground, falling unconscious in one hit.

"And now, you're down to two pokemon," Vic smirked. "Well? Go ahead, send her out."

Alden said nothing, recalling Mimi to her pokeball. Now the only other pokemon he had left was Tracey, his Cinderace. And it was still raining.

"Tracey, I need your help," he said, sending her out. Tracey landed on the ground, still injured but looking in better shape than Corin.

"Well, she's seen better days," Vic smirked, feeling the rush of Samarra's harmonia. "All your pokemon have. Valkyrie only needs to defeat two more, and then this will all be settled."

"It looks like you've forgotten your feelings," Alden said, frowning. "Aren't you the type of trainer who hates just relying on one pokemon? What happened to Valkyrie's Defiant ability, so you could use her in conjunction with your other pokemon?"

"Samarra showed me how to change that," Vic said simply. "This ability is much more suited for taking you down. Then, once I've defeated you, you'll be all mine, forever!" Vic jabbed her finger towards Alden. "For the sake of achieving that, I'm willing to do whatever it takes!" She shouted.

"I see, that's quite a disappointment," Alden said, narrowing his eyes. "Even if it is due to the influence of Samarra, I thought that you always understood how much I valued doing things my own way." He shook his head sadly.

"I never thought that the day would come when you would want to control me," he sighed.

"Of course you didn't," Vic seethed. "Because you only think of yourself! But that will end soon… this is the furthest I've ever pushed you, Alden, and it will only take a little more! Just two more pokemon, and then you'll be all mine, forever! Valkyrie! Swords dance!"

"Kingambit!" Valkyrie roared, raising her hands and sharpening her blades, increasing her strength even more.

"I'll do it… I'll win soon, and then you'll be all mine, to do with as I please," Vic promised. Her harmonia served to boost Valkyrie's strength even further.

"Victoria…" Rui couldn't see a trace of her daughter in the girl standing above them. She was completely consumed by Samarra's will.

"Vic, I won't let that-"

"You won't have a choice!" Vic snapped, cutting him off. Then a playful smile returned to her face and she stroked her chin thoughtfully. "With this power… with Valkyrie… I'm finally stronger than you are… so don't you think it's suitable for you to bend the knee, 'Commander'? I am going to be in charge of you soon enough… yes… I think a slightly better nickname would be in order, don't you agree?"

Her eyes were mad with triumph. She stomped her foot against the floor and slapped her chest. "Yes… starting now, I'm no longer Victoria Carver… you may refer to me as your 'Baroness'! A rather fitting name, wouldn't you agree?"

Rui was horrified at what she was seeing and hearing. She just kept shaking her head. Alden narrowed his eyes. He wasn't going to back down.

"Tracey," he shouted to his Cinderace. "Use pyro ball!"

"Cinder!" Tracey fan forward and formed a ball of flames, pulling back to kick it. But he didn't have the chance.

Valkyrie shot forward at blinding speed and struck Tracey in the stomach, the pyro ball fading away into cinders.

"You're a fan of sucker punch, isn't that right?" The Baroness asked with a smirk. "Valkyrie, use your night slash next!"

"King," Valkyrie grunted, raising her arm. Darkness surged through the limb and formed a powerful sword that she swung at Tracey's throat. Tracey jumped back quickly, avoiding the slash by the skin of her teeth.

"Corin!" Alden shouted to his Lucario. There was no rest for her now, she needed to get in on this. It wasn't a Bisharp they were dealing with, which made things tricky. Corin had expended a lot of energy against Theo and Shimmer, and now they were in trouble.

"Lucario!" Corin pushed through her paralysis and formed an aura sphere with her hand. She fired it at Valkyrie, hitting the Kingambit in the back.

"KIIIING!" Valkyrie roared in pain, turning towards Corin with fury in her eyes. The dark aura grew around her, and she sharpened her blades even further.

"Brick break!" The Baroness ordered. Valkyrie charged at Corin, raising her sword to swing it at the Lucario. Corin jumped back, but she was too slow to evade the Kingambit. This next attack was going to hurt.

"Cinderace!" Tracey wasn't going to let that happen. She dashed forward, her legs covered with flames, and circled around in front of Valkyrie. Then she leapt into the air, kicking the armored pokemon in the chest to knock her back.

"Yes!" Rui punched the air hopefully. This was exactly how she'd wanted things to go! Tracey could make use of her speed to keep out of range, giving Corin the time to strike from the outside, and at the same time, she could also catch the Kingambit off-guard if the pokemon tried to target Corin instead. It was the perfect double team!

But Alden's strategy wouldn't work forever. After all, the Commander's opponent was a master of double battles, she knew full well how to get around strategies like these. It was the easiest thing in the world.

Then the Baroness laughed. "How predictable."

"Kingambit!" Valkyrie roared, charging forward. The black aura around her body grew even larger, burning with streaks of red as she approached Tracey, who quickly tried to put some space between the two of them.

"Time for your strongest attack!" The Baroness ordered. "Kowtow cleave!"

"Kingambit!" Valkyrie disappeared, turning into a streak of red, black, and gold in the sky. The streak moved faster than Tracey could hope to, and cut her down instantly. Tracey was smashed into the ground from the force of the slash, rolling through the dirt. The injuries were critical.

"Tracey!" Alden shouted. His pokemon was down, but she wasn't out. She struggled to get to her feet, but the Baroness was having none of it.

"Valkyrie, finish her off," she seethed. "With your guillotine!"

"No way, not guillotine!" Anabel gasped in shock. They knew how powerful of a move guillotine was. If it connected…

Tracey was too injured to even stand. There was no way she could escape. Valkyrie raised her blades and slashed down at Tracey's throat, knocking her out in a single stroke.

"King," Valkyrie grunted with finality, standing up straight. She turned towards Corin, holding her bladed gauntlet out towards the only target left to fight. Corin.

Ordinarily, Corin would have been easy pickings. After all, she was badly injured, and paralyzed to boot. It shouldn't have been any work whatsoever to defeat her.

But that was then. Valkyrie might have taken out Tracey quickly, but it wasn't quickly enough. She'd given Corin enough time to fall asleep. Using rest, Corin had just finished healing her status condition, and restoring her health back up to full.

Corin was still fast asleep, but the Baroness knew that she was still capable of fighting in that condition, which was troubling.

She would have to finish this off fast, before Corin could fully regain her speed. "Now Valkyrie! End this with guillotine, one more time!"

"Kingambit!" Valkyrie shouted, charging at Corin with her blades raised. Like with Tracey, she brought them down in an executioner's swing on the Lucario's throat.

The blades struck true, and stayed there. But Corin didn't fall.

"Impossible!" The Baroness gasped in shock. "There's no way she could have survived that!"

"Did you really think you were at a level where she would fall to a simple guillotine?" Alden smirked. "You should know her better than that! Corin, use brick break!"

Corin was fast asleep, but the blue aura that covered her grew brighter and brighter. She heard her trainer's orders and raised her fist, striking Valkyrie in the stomach with a powerful brick break that sent the armored pokemon flying back.

"Urgh!" The Baroness clutched her stomach, the intense pain surging through her body. But she refused to fall. She would never lower herself again, not against him!

"We won't be broken so easily! Low sweep!" The Baroness shouted. Valkyrie crouched down and swung her sword at Corin, hoping to strike the Lucario from below. But Corin was nimble on her feet, and even in her sleep was able to easily ignore the stroke.

"Now that's not like you, Vic," Alden said, smirking. "I would have thought you'd use one of your pokemon's specialties. Night slash again, or that new technique, kowtow cleave. Do you really think you'll be able to beat Corin with your pokemon moving so slowly?"

The Baroness' eye twitched and she bit her lip. She knew full well that using Dark type moves against Corin was out of the question due to her Justified ability.

"That won't matter!" She spat. "Valkyrie! Air slash!"

"Kingambit!" Valkyrie raised her gauntlet and swung a powerful slash that sliced through the air, right for Corin. Corin didn't have the reflexes to dodge again so she tanked the blow, which was fine. Valkyrie might have been powerful, but her special attack was a lot lower than her physical attack.

Unfortunately, Valkyrie was quick to follow that move with another, more dangerous one.

"Aerial ace!"

Valkyrie disappeared, reappearing behind Corin. She raised her head high and slammed it down, slashing her blade across Corin's back with a powerful strike. Corin howled in pain and fell forward, but she managed to brake her fall with her front leg. The pain was enough to snap her out of her sleep, and she jumped up and turned towards the Kingambit.

"Force palm!" Alden ordered. Corin raised her palm to slam it into Valkyrie's chest, but she managed to parry the strike, hitting Corin in the face with a blade on her elbow. Corin stumbled back, injured, and conjured a bon from her aura that she spun to force the Kingambit back.

"Keep using those tricks all you want!" The Baroness spat. "It won't do you any good!" She knew full well that Corin was very tough and fast, but with Valkyrie's incredible power it would only be a matter of time before the Lucario succumbed.

"We'll see about that! Corin, use swords dance yourself!" Alden shouted. Corin leapt back with a high jump, spinning the bone in her hands. She heightened her attacking strength as Valkyrie refocused her stance, preparing to attack.

Anabel bit their lip. They were in a tough position. Alden was doing fine so far, but he'd lost two of his best pokemon in quick succession to this Kingambit. It would be one thing if they knew what the pokemon was capable of, but this was new territory. What else might she be holding back?

Aldn was worried about that himself, but he couldn't afford to be cautious.

"We have to win," he whispered to himself.

"Corin! Aura sphere!"

"Lucario!" Corin raised her paws, crumpling the aura staff into a sphere of energy. It was a surprising play, using a special attack right on the heels of a swords dance, but that was what Alden was counting on, the power of surprise.

Corin fired the aura sphere at the Kingambit. Valkyrie growled, narrowing her eyes.

"We may not be able to use this move against your Lucario, but her attacks are a different story!" The Baroness shouted. "Kowtow cleave!"

Valkyrie raised her sword and turned into a blur once more, slicing through the aura sphere without even flinching. She barely took any damage from the attack, and used her own move to close the distance between herself and Corin once gain.

"Now, zen headbutt!"

"Kingambit!" Psychic energy built up through Valkyrie's helmet, and she raised her head for a devastating headbutt that sent Corin flying backwards. The Lucario hit the ground hard but quickly leapt to her feet, not beaten.

"Vacuum wave, Corin!" Alden shouted, using another special move. He was being cautious of Valkyrie's attacks. Corin punched the air, sending a shockwave through the battlefield that knocked Valkyrie backwards, but barely did any damage even with the massive weakness that she had to the Fighting type.

The reason for that lay in his opponent's harmonia. The Baroness was so used to fighting in double battles that a situation where she only had one pokemon remaining was a rarity. But even though they weren't her specialty, her match against Ayame had proven that she was still competent at them. So she gathered her strength and gave all of it to Valkyrie, willing her pokemon to withstand Corin's attacks through raw willpower.

"Why are you attacking from that far back?" The Baroness demanded. "Don't tell me you and Corin are afraid of Valkyrie's new form?"

She burst out laughing. "Oh, that's just perfect! I never thought you were the type to cower! But then, you always did underestimate my skill. And now that I'm no longer that weak little girl you used as your tool, I can show you that-"

"How long are you going to keep spouting hat crap!?" Alden shouted, startling the Baroness and the others watching. This had gone past the point of no longer keeping up his affable mood. The Commander was outright furious, and it was a look that the Baroness had never seen on him before. She was so startled she stepped back, not sure what to say.

So she didn't say anything. The time for words had passed. Now, they were going to focus on action, and she had the best pokemon for the job!

"Kingambit!" Valkyrie shouted, charging at Corin. She swung her blade and sent another cutting wave towards Corin, who withstood the attack once again.

But Corin shrugged it off like it was nothing, much to the consternation of the Baroness.

"I see, so that is your plan," she spat. "You're so afraid of Valkyrie's new power that you're going to stay back there, firing attacks from where we can't hit you! So that's how it is…"

A wicked smile crossed the Baroness' lips. "But you see… even if I wasn't expecting a plan like that, we're more than capable of fighting against it, regardless!"

Her harmonia burned red and black as she concentrated her power, and Valkyrie charged at Corin once again.

Yikes. It looks like Vic- err, I mean, "The Baroness", had quite the trump card up her sleeve! That isn't good, things are going to be pretty difficult for Alden now that he's just down to Corin! And it looks like the Baroness has some strength of her own left in reserve! Both trainers have only one pokemon left, and we've reached the climax! Normally, Corin should have no problem against a Dark/Steel type pokemon, but that Kingambit is quite a monster! Will the Commander make it through this intact? Check out next chapter for the thrilling conclusion!