Now that Vic has been rescued from Samarra's influence, there's only one place left to go, and one battle left to finish. And the final conclusion rests at the top of the Battle Tower! There, Ange awaits for the Commander. Alden still has one last battle to win, can he do it? Or is the combination of Ange and Samarra too powerful to overcome? We'll have to see!

Jjjdunk1: Yup, this arc has really allowed Alden to shine!

Venoms Cross 2: That would be quite an amusing twist.

KedharS: Yup, this is going to be a pretty difficult battle, that's for sure.

Thunder Fire: I agree, it's quite an adorable little title.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: I think for Samarra, the risk of losing Ange (which is no risk at all since she doesn't care and Ange can be replaced by other trainers anyway) is worth it if it means getting Alden under her thumb.

Hyphenman: She couldn't remember. The words be hollow if he just told her after the fact. Alden shows his appreciation in other ways, like he just did.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1120

Ange stared out over the wide expanse of the Orre Region. The wind was surprisingly light this high up in the air. From the peak of the Battle Tower, one could see the entire desert stretch on for miles and miles, and the sea beyond it as well.

She took a deep breath, inhaling the arid air. What a place. It stank of human corruption and decline. Ange had always despised the Orre Region, and after falling under Samarra's influence, her feelings hadn't changed in the slightest.

This tower itself was a testimony to the destruction mankind wrought on the environment. A shining spire of humanity breaking apart the natural ecosystem, and what would follow it? More construction. Or more like "destruction". The Battle Frontier, a place for people to come and enjoy pokemon battles in their spare time.

What a joke.

The elevator doors slid open and Ange turned to greet her guests.

"Hello there," she coldly addressed them. Standing at the ledge, her hair dancing in the wind, she looked like a vision. But Alden wasn't here to admire the scenery.

"Hello yourself," Alden said. "I believe you're standing on my tower." He smiled. "You'll have to forgive the lack of hospitality. Can I offer you something? A refreshing beverage, perhaps? Or maybe a pokemon battle."

Ange laughd, though from her lips it sounded more like a snort. To anyone who knew her, it was proof positive that she wasn't alone in her head. "Ah, yes, that's the cutting wit I've heard so much about," she mused. "And why am I not surprised that the Commander would greet me with a pokemon battle? How fitting."

"Well, it sounds like that's the thing to do," Alden said, shrugging. "After all, you started things by attacking my friends and challenging them to pokemon battles. And then when they lost, they became possessed by your friend Samarra, isn't that right?"

Ange shrugged. "Well, what can you do? They were in my way. I just did what needed to be done."

Alden narrowed his eyes. "Oh? And what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that your friends were pokemon trainers," Ange said, as if that made any sense whatsoever. "And not only are they pokemon trainers… but now I know that they're fighting for your precious Battle Frontier."

"And what's wrong with that?" Alden asked. "Don't tell me that you've got a problem with people having pokemon battles for fun."

"Pokemon battles… for fun?" Ange asked, raising her eyebrow. "What a joke. A pokemon battle isn't suppose to be fun. It's supposed to be a struggle. Two trainers, desperate to win, fighting each other to the death with their pokemon. That's what pokemon battles are, you see, an abuse of pokemon. And yet, you blindly talk about things like 'fun'…"

A cold expression crossed Ange's face. "You make me sick," she hissed. "You, and everyone like you. That's why I volunteered to be the one."

She tore an antique pokeball from her waist. "I'm going to defeat you, Commander, and show just how disgusting your mentality is."

"Well, if it's a pokemon battle that you want, then I'll be happy to oblige," Alden agreed, reaching to his belt for a pokeball of his own.

Ange got off of the ledge and walked over to the battlefield in the center of the tower. At any other time, this stadium would be filled with cheering fans, but now it was abandoned like a ghost town. The sort of place that was hauntingly empty.

To her, it was better abandoned, than filled with disgusting people like so many colosseums in the Orre Region.

"I'll start this," she said. "Mami, go!"

"Persian!" Ange's lead was her Persian. The feline pokemon emerged from her pokeball with a proud smirk on her face, hissing at the Commander.

"Good luck, Commander!" Vic shouted. She was standing on the sidelines with the others, cheering him on.

Alden considered the pokemon in front of him. Vic had nothing to say about the pokemon she'd fought, and he hadn't observed any battles from Ange himself, either. So he didn't know who he should use against her.

He came to a quick decision, though.

"Eifa, come out," he ordered, sending out his Espeon. She was one of his standard leads, and knowing that Persian was a physical attacker, it made sense to have her put up reflect.

But before she got the chance, she was caught off-guard with a fake out attack, stumbling back as the attack caused her to flinch.

"Excellent work, Mami," Ange praised her Persian. This feeling… it was exhilarating! Ever since she'd become friends with Samarra, her connection to her pokemon had grown like never before. She could feel her heart pound in her chest.

"Shake it off, Eifa," Alden said. Eifa looked strong and prepared, but he was still concerned. She'd fought in two back to back battles on his behalf, all of his pokemon had. And even if she was fully restored, there was a chance she was still feeling the fatigue from using her moves like that. He needed to be careful dealing with her. "Now, use reflect!"

"Espeon!" Eifa's ruby flashed and her eyes glowed red. She created a barrier of red light around her body, when suddenly it disappeared.

"What?!" Alden gasped in shock.

"What happened to reflect?" Rui asked, confused.

Ange smirked. Mami's ruby flashed next, and the barrier appeared on her side of the battlefield instead of Eifa's!

What was going on?

"What happened?" Anabel asked. "Did she just… steal reflect?"

"But Cinderace should be the only pokemon capable of using court change," Vic said, frowning. "What's going on here?"

"It isn't court change," Ange replied. "I had Mami use snatch!"

"Snatch?" That was a move that Alden was unfamiliar with. But he had a pretty good guess what it could do.

"My Mami is a greedy little girl, ever since she was a Meowth," Ange explained. "And because of that, she always steals things from others. Necklaces, wallets, and even the moves of other pokemon! By using snatch, Mami can steal any attempt you use to buff your pokemon, and take it all for herself, even something like reflect."

She narrowed her eyes, and a cruel smirk crossed her lips. "Would you like to use light screen next?" She asked.

"I don't think so," Alden replied. "Eifa, use psychic!"

"Espeon!" Eifa's ruby flashed, and a red aura began to glow around Mami. Mami was lifted up into the air by Eifa's psychic powers, and hung suspended over the battlefield.

"Yeah, now that's more like it!" Vic cheered. "Go get her, Eifa!"

"Espeon!" Eifa nodded in agreement.

"This isn't good, Mami," Ange said, stroking her chin. "It's time you ask for some help, wouldn't you agree?"

"Persian," Mami nodded, raising her paw. It began to glow.

"She's using assist!" Alden realized. Assist was a very tricky move. By using it, Mami could use any move from another pokemon on her team. Not even Ange would know for sure what move would come out. It made trying to predict the move pointless.

"Persian!" Mami swiped her claw as best she could, and from the light a blast of sludge erupted. The gunk and acid hit Eifa in the face and she roared in pain, stumbling back. Her concentration broke and she released Mami from her psychic hold, letting the Persian go free. Mami leapt forward with a purr in her throat.

"Eifa!" Alden shouted.

"I think that was a gunk shot," Anabel judged.

"So you decided to take one of Beel's moves, that's just perfect," Ange said, pointing at Eifa. "Now go, use knock off, Mami!"

"Persian!" Mami raced across the battlefield while Eifa was stunned from the poison, swiping at her with her claw. She knocked away the bright powder Eifa was relying on, so if the chance occurred for her to set up a reflect or a light screen again, it would be much weaker than normal.

"Eifa, are you alright?" Alden asked. Those were some powerful attacks that his Espeon had just endured. He needed to heal her, fast. "Use-"

He caught himself before he gave the order. The Persian was just standing there, staring at Eifa in anticipation.

She's waiting for me to use morning sun, he realized. Of course Ange would know all about what his pokemon were capable of. She'd probably sent out that Persian having expected him to use Eifa's reflect and light screen to start as he usually did. And now she was anticipating Eifa heal herself. And while he wanted to do that, he knew that wouldn't be the best choice right now.

"Eifa! Psybeam!" Alden ordered.

"Espeon!" Eifa's eyes glowed red and her ruby began to shine. She fired a beam of light at the Persian, hitting her in the face and catching her off-guard.

"Mami!" Ange cried. She flinched under the attack, which immediately caught the attention of Rui, Vic, and Anabel.

"That was…" Rui wasn't sure, but it looked familiar. She wasn't a pokemon trainer so she couldn't be sure, so she looked to her daughter for confirmation. Vic nodded, her face going pale.

"But it can't be," she mumbled, shaking her head.

It was Anabel who said what they were all thinking. "She's reacting like she has harmonia," Anabel said. But at the same time, they couldn't sense any harmonia coming from the girl. So what was going on here?

"What, seriously?" Alden asked, shocked.

Anabel nodded, but they weren't sure. "Does Ange… does she have harmonia?"

"She doesn't," Vic confirmed, shaking her head. "I've seen her a few times, and she doesn't have any sort of ability like that."

"Well if she didn't before, it sure looks like she does now," Rui said. "Is that even possible? I know with Maddi…"

Wes had confessed to her that Maddi had harmonia through another source. She didn't understand what that meant, but she was still worried for the other girl. Now, though, this Ange, she also seemed to have an artificial harmonia.

"Are you asking me that?" Ange asked, casting a cold eye on the trio. "It's as you suspected. This power… it's harmonia."

"But that's not possible!" Vic sputtered. "You shouldn't be able to use harmonia, not if you're just a normal person!"

"I'm far from normal," Ange snapped. "And even if I wasn't born with your twisted psychic powers… that doesn't mean I can't obtain a little power of my own."

"That's what she wanted," Anabel realized. "That's what Samarra gave her."

"What do you mean?" Rui asked, confused.

"Part of what makes Samarra's offer sound so tempting is that she promises she'll give you whatever you want," Anabel explained. "At least… that what it sounds like, anyway." They didn't actually remember what it was like, being influenced by Samarra's will. But Alden had explained everything to them, and it made sense.

"You're exactly right," Ange confirmed with a nod. She stared at Mami and raised her hand, reaching out as if she could pet the Persian ahead of her. "Ever since I was a little girl… I've always loved pokemon. But you see, I could never do enough for them. I was always so weak and powerless. And other humans… the way they treated them was…"

She looked like she was going to be sick to her stomach. "But then… I grew. I got stronger. I became someone who could protect pokemon from the evil of people," she said, thinking fondly back on all the trials she had endured to reach this point. "But it wasn't enough. Even if I was strong enough to help pokemon… there was something that still escaped me. And that was the power to hear the voice of my own pokemon."

She'd always wanted harmonia, ever since she'd heard of its power. But she had resigned herself to knowing it could never happen.

And then Samarra came. The other woman had promised her that she would be able to make use of this power, that now Ange was her friend, she would share her harmonia with her, and give her the ability to communicate with her own pokemon.

She had given Ange all she ever wanted. And now what she wanted was to tear down the foe in front of her.

"You humans are wretched, evil things," Ange rasped. "You people of the modern era… you have no respect for the sacred land that pokemon tread on! You treat it as if it's yours, to destroy as you please! Look at this!"

She waved her hand out at the tower.

"It's a pillar to pointless excess," Ange snapped. "So much destruction, warping the Orre Region even further, and for what? For the sake of creating a place where trainers can force their pokemon to fight against one another."

"You know, for someone who hates pokemon battles, you're certainly doing a good job of fighting them," Alden replied. "Shouldn't you practice what you preach, and stop the battle yourself, Ange?" He asked.

Ange's eye twitched. "You have no idea what I believe in," she said. "But what I can tell you is that right now, I'm fully prepared to defeating someone like you! Now, Mami, go and use u-turn!"

"Persian!" Mami charged forward, running straight for Eifa.

"Eifa, quick, reflect!" Alden shouted. Eifa's eyes flashed and she created a barrier of psychic energy in front of her to block the attack. Mami crashed right into the barrier, leaping back off of it and returning to Ange's pokeball.

"Slaking!" The next pokemon she sent out was a Slaking. The bulky pokemon let out a roar, pummeling her chest. Then she yawned and slumped back, not at all interested in continuing to fight, much to Alden's surprise.

"So, a Slaking, huh?" Alden said. "That's quite an interesting choice. Looks to me like you're preparing to take things pretty easy, huh?"

"Believe what you want," Ange scoffed. "Belle! Use brick break!"

Lazily, Belle lunged forward and swung her arm, smashing the barrier to pieces with a bat of her pinky, startling Eifa. That was a lot of power right there.

"Eifa, get back," Alden ordered. "Use psychic!"

"Espeon!" Eifa lifted the Slaking into the air, dealing damage to the pokemon with her psychic powers. But Belle seemed unfazed by the attack.

"Slaking," Belle yawned, slacking off. Eifa kept up the pressure with psychic, trying to finish her off before she moved again. But even as she tried, she knew that it was futile, and so did her trainer. Belle was too strong to go down to something like this.

"Return," Alden said, recalling Eifa to her pokeball. "Corin! You're up!"

"Lucario!" Corin emerged from her pokeball with a roar, and charged into battle.

"He's using Corin already?" Rui gasped. That was fast.

"I guess that shows just how strong his opponent is, if he's taking things this seriously," Anabel said, frowning.

"You can do it, Corin!" Vic wasn't as worried as the other two. She had absolute faith in Alden's ability to win, and in Corin's power.

We need to score a big hit on that Slaking, before she unleashes a big one on us, Alden decided. And Corin had the power to do some serious damage. With her close combat, she could devastate the Normal type pokemon while she was still slacking off.

"Close combat, Corin!" He ordered.

"Lucario!" Corin drew closer to Belle, raising her fist. She was close enough to hit now, but the Slaking still hadn't made any moves to dodge or even try to block the attack, she was just lounging back like she didn't have a care in the world.

A little flustered by that, Corin shrugged it off and unleashed the first punch.

Her fist was aimed straight at Belle's face… and passed right through!

Hitting nothing where she'd expected to hit solid pokemon, Corin stumbled forward in confusion. She passed right through the Slaking like she wasn't even there.

A cold gleam appeared in Ange's eye.

"Bitter malice," she hissed.

"Ruraaaaaaarrk!" Belle roared, lumbering up onto her feet. She released a blast of ghastly energy that struck the startled Corin head-on, wrapping around her in chilling tendrils.

"Corin!" Alden shouted.

"I don't get it!" Anabel said, shaking their head. "Why didn't the attack hit?!"

"It could never hit," Ange replied. She snapped her fingers. "Luci! Time to show them who you really are!"

The appearance of Slaking fell away, revealing an entirely different pokemon underneath. Luci had a slender, slim body with long claws and tendril-like hair that wrapped around her, tipped in red. Her fur was covered in red lacerations and there was a wicked gleam in her eye. A red aura appeared around her as her alpha might surged.

"Zoroark!" She howled.

"It's… a Zoroark?!" Vic sputtered in disbelief.

"I've never seen one like that!" Alden breathed. It was a brand-new pokemon!

"This is Luci, my darling," Ange said, clutching her chest. The red aura wrapped around the Zoroark also glowed around her, sharing the power with her pokemon due to their bond of harmonia.

"Lucario…" Corin winced. She was shivering from the remnants of the bitter malice attack, and was helpless as Luci approached her.

We've reached the final battle! Alden vs. Ange! Which one will emerge the champion? Ange, with all her hatred of the modern day and pokemon battles? Or Alden, who believes in his friends and his pokemon? This conflict, and Ange's hatred of Alden, is getting off to a rocky start. Can Alden and Corin overcome the power of Ange's Zoroark?