Ange has sent out one of her trump cards, a Ditto that can match Corin in brute force by turning into her exact copy! Alden did well, showing Ange that copying his strength isn't enough, but that doesn't mean she'll win. They're exchanging close combats now, so it comes down to whichever pokemon falls first. And the one left behind, well… she certainly won't be in good shape, that's for sure.

KedharS: That's an interesting interpretation of her position. I wonder what we'll see about Ange's nature in this fight…

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1122

Ange felt her body pummeled by Corin's fists as the Lucario bludgeoned her Ditto with everything she had. Her Ditto was fighting back with equal fervor, and neither pokemon was willing to yield to the assault.

Rui's heart ached as she looked at the two pokemon beating on each other. She could barely be sure which one was which at this point, the two pokemon were moving so fast. It was only thanks to her powers that she could sense Corin's nature.

But her daughter had absolute faith. Vic may have been exhausted from her own battle and from healing the Commander's pokemon, but she had confidence in Corin's abilities and was supporting her with everything she had. Corin was living up to the faith.

"Lucario!" Corin's aura blazed brightly, lighting up the night sky. With a howl she pulled back her fist and smashed it right into Levi's snout, practically caving it in. Even though her attack strength had been decreased, she still refused to yield. She was filled with energy and giving it everything that she had for the battle.

"Rrgh!" Ange felt pain blossom through her skull but she held her ground. It was the only thing she could do. She forced herself forward, trying to withstand it, but somehow Levi just couldn't seem to end things. All her attacks were hitting, she could feel the pressure on her fists. They just didn't have the strength to defeat the pokemon in front of her.

I knew this would be a challenge, but I never would have expected his pokemon would be this strong, Ange thought grimly. She hadn't had complete faith in Levi's ability to defeat Corin, but she hoped that she would have the strength to at least cripple the other pokemon. But even that wasn't certain anymore.

Alden squinted, trying to follow the battle. He spotted his opening. "There, Corin! Finish her off, now!" He shouted. But his words were unnecessary. Maybe Corin had spotted the same opening he had, or maybe she knew what he was feeling with her aura sensors, but she was already moving to attack Levi's weak point.

A powerful fist up into Levi's gut knocked the air out of Ange's lungs. She coughed and nearly collapsed to the ground as she felt something snap in her head, and her Ditto slumped back. Levi's body turned pink and melted into a puddle of goo as she fainted, much to Ange's shock.

Corin slumped back as well, exhausted from the battle. It was clear that the victory had not been easily won. Her fur was stained with blood and darkened from bruises, and even if she was still standing it was clear that she was in bad shape. But the important part was that she won.

Ange recalled Levi to her pokeball. "I see… so it will take much more than that," she quietly judged. She narrowed her eyes at the Commander. "Don't think this means you've won," she warned. "Mami, come back out!"

"Persian!" Mami hissed, emerging from her pokeball. She immediately ran towards Corin and raised her claws, swiping at the injured pokemon with a fake out attack. Corin winced, flinching from the attack. She was already in pretty bad shape, and more pressure from the other pokemon wasn't helping. But Ange wasn't done yet.

"Now, use-"

"Return, Corin!" Alden shouted. He wasn't about to let his partner take more damage from this fight, she needed time to rest, and recuperate from Luci's debuffs and Levi's beatings.

Ange smirked. "…Pursuit!"

"Persian!" Mami leapt forward with her claws extended and slashed Corin before she could retreat back to her pokeball. The attack didn't do very much damage, and in fact, it actually increased Corin's strength thanks to her Justified ability. But it was the principle of the matter, and Corin still felt slighted as she retreated to safety.

"Sorry about that, Corin," Alden apologized. "I let her get a cheap shot in on you."

"Oh, believe me, Mami doesn't concern herself with anything cheap," Ange stated calmly. "Now send out your next pokemon."

"…Fine then," Alden said. "Jaune, go!"

"Vikavolt!" Jaune emerged from his pokeball with a buzz, flapping his wings. Electricity surged around his body.

"Jaune, there's a chance that her Persian has the Limber ability," Alden warned. "That means we won't be able to paralyze her." That was so obvious he didn't need to say it. But the reason he did was because he was curious what Ange's reaction would be, and hoped that she would give it away if he guessed correctly.

But Ange didn't have any visible reaction, she was very good at this apparently. So he switched to the next method of verification. "Let's test it out ourselves!" He shouted. "Jaune, use thunder wave on her now!"

"Vika!" Jaune built up electricity in his mandibles and released it in a shockwave that surged across the battlefield towards the Persian.

"Mami, substitute," Ange ordered. Mami disappeared, and was replaced with a golden Meowth statue with its paw raised. A common tourist object from the Kanto Region, and a rather fitting replacement for the greedy cat.

"I see, so that's how it works," Alden smirked. "If you had the Limber ability you wouldn't have bothered to use substitute. So your Persian's ability must be Technician!"

Ange's response was a small smirk. "…Oh, you think so?"

There was something about her response that unnerved Alden. But he didn't let himself get shaken. Was she playing him? He knew that the Persian's ability wasn't Unnerve, because none of his pokemon had reacted nervously to her presence. It had to be Technician, right?

…Unless this was a big fool on him, and she was using some next-level thinking. By using substitute when she had the opportunity, to fool him into thinking her Persian had Technician, she was putting him into a situation where he'd have to play around the ability. And that would be a little bit difficult. So right now, he needed to think. Was she really-

"Mami's ability isn't Technician," Ange interrupted, startling him. So her ability really was- "And it isn't Limber, either."

Okay, now he was lost.

"I told you before, didn't I?" Ange asked, twirling her hair absentmindedly. "Mami was always greedy, even back as a Meowth. Her ability was Pickup, because she so enjoyed collecting valuable things for her stash. And when she evolved… that ability never changed."

"What?" Alden gasped. "But that shouldn't be possible!"

Ange shrugged. "You're right, it shouldn't be. When she evolved, her ability should have changed to Limber. But it didn't. Because she was so focused on amassing wealth that she wanted to hold onto everything, even her old ability. Is it a genetic anomaly, or something along those lines? I couldn't say. But it's the truth."

Alden narrowed his eyes. He couldn't believe it. Not only did it sound impossible, but why would she volunteer that information?

"You can assume I'm lying," Ange shrugged. "But the reason I'm telling you this is because I want you to know just what you're dealing with. Mami is the greediest pokemon there is, and if you don't know what to think of that, well… you'll soon discover that things won't go well for you. Mami! Use slash!"

"Persian!" Mami appeared from nowhere and burst forward in a pounce, slashing at Jaune. The attack scored a critical hit and he fell back, flapping his wings frantically to remain in the air. But before he could counter, the Persian had already disappeared again, hiding behind the cat statue.

"Jaune, we need to get rid of that substitute," Alden said. Then he had another idea. "On the other hand…"

"Vika?" Jaune looked at him curiously. Alden had to think about this. Breaking through the substitute was what Ange expected him to do. Was it the right move, then? Or should he be focusing his energy on something else?

"Bug buzz, Jaune!" Alden ordered.

"Vika!" Jaune opened his mouth wide and released a loud sonic shock that echoed through the stadium. The walls shook and Ange clutched her ears, wincing in pain. She wasn't the only one.

"Persian!" Mami cried, her substitute disappearing. She crawled forward and slumped over, injured from the sonic assault.

"Ow! What's with this move?" Rui winced. She didn't understand why Alden would use something like that. But her questions fell on deaf ears, as everyone was too shaken by the soundwaves chittering across the battlefield.

"Nice, Jaune!" Alden shouted. It was something he'd learned in his own use of substitute, and in the times he'd fought against it. Substitute could dodge a lot moves, but one type of move it couldn't avoid were moves that were based in sound. No matter where the Persian tried to hide, it couldn't avoid the power of sound.

Now, Jaune had found his opening. "Thunder wave," Alden ordered. Jaune built up electricity and released it at the stunned Persian, hitting her directly. Mami cried out, her body growing heavy as she felt her muscles clench and seize up.

"Rrrrgh!" Ange grit her teeth, lowering her hands. That wasn't supposed to happen!

"Well, at least it seems you weren't lying about not having Limber," Alden said. "Now that she's slowed down, Jaune, we can take her! Use thunderbolt!"

"Vikavolt!" Jaune nodded, building up a current of electricity. He fired it at the paralyzed Persian, hoping to hit her before she could react.

"Mami, endure it," Ange ordered, focusing her harmonia. She boosted her pokemon's special defense in order to withstand the attack, as she prepared to strike back. She sent her orders silently, so Alden couldn't prepare.

The bolt of lightning struck Mami and she cried out in pain. But she withstood the damage and concentrated, and then sprung forward with surprising speed given her current status. Her body was glowing with golden light and she slammed into Jaune, knocking him out of the air.

"Jaune!" Alden cried.

"What move was that?" Anabel gasped. It had done a lot of damage.

"That was a taste of our façade," Ange informed them. "You wanted to paralyze Mami? Well, that's your cost! Now Mami, use u-turn!"

"Persian!" Mami took advantage of Jaune being stunned from the powerful attack and smacked him again, returning to her pokeball. Ange was quick to swap her out for another pokemon.

"Slaking!" Ange's Slaking emerged from her pokeball next, letting out a loud yawn. She lounged back on the field and relaxed, waiting for orders.

"…She sent it out again, huh?" Alden sad, narrowing his eyes. That was twice now that Ange had swapped her Persian for a Slaking. Only last time, the Slaking wasn't real, it was her Zoroark. Was that the case this time?

"Don't fall for it, sir!" Vic shouted. "She's trying to trick you again!"

"Or it's the real thing this time!" Anabel suggested. "Maybe she's trying to fool you by making you THINK that she sent out her Zoroark, but actually it's her Slaking for real!"

Vic glared at Anabel, not at all happy at being countered. But she held her tongue, waiting to see what the Commander would do.

Either way, Alden knew that he had to slow down the other pokemon. If it was the Slaking this time, so be it. If it was the Zoroark, well, he'd figure out what to do after that.

"Jaune, use thunder wave," he ordered. Jaune opened his mouth and released a shockwave of electricity to paralyze the Slaking. Expecting the pokemon to try to dodge, Alden tensed to watch her reaction, but Belle just yawned and let the current wash over her, paralyzing her.

"That's what you were trying?" Ange asked, raising her eyebrow. "Well, okay, I admit, paralysis works well against the Truant ability."

"So that is your Slaking, then?" Alden asked.

Ange didn't answer. "But I thought you would have learned your lesson last time," she continued. "Belle, use façade."

Belle rose to her feet, an angry expression crossing her face. She dashed across the battlefield with fury in her eyes, a golden aura glowing around her.

"Jaune!" Alden shouted. "Evade with double team, now!"

"Vika!" Jaune nodded, moving from side to side and creating multiple copies of himself. Hopefully, he could distract the Slaking enough with the copies, and she would eventually tire herself out and begin loafing around before she could land the hit.

Ange narrowed her eyes. "There!" She shouted, pointing her finger and directing her harmonia towards her Slaking, who immediately jerked her head and plowed through a mass of the copies, smashing into the real thing before Jaune could react.

"My instincts are sharp," Ange smirked. "When it comes to studying the behavior patterns of wild pokemon, I happened to have written the book on the subject!"

"Vikavolt!" Jaune cried in pain, flying back and crashing into the ground, injured. The duplicates all disappeared. He struggled to get back up into the air, but it was hard. Belle towered over her, glaring down.

Then she yawned, and slumped back over, slacking off.

Alden was surprised by that, but it would take more than that to take Jaune down. It looked like this really was her Slaking this time, unless her Zoroark was an even better actor than he gave her credit for. Well, there was one way to find out.

"Zap cannon, Jaune!" He ordered. If Belle wasn't going to move, then he might as well try the strongest move they had up their sleeve!

"Vikavolt!" Jaune clenched his mandibles and formed an orb of black lightning that crackled with powerful energy. He fired it at the Slaking, and it moved slowly. Slow enough that any pokemon who cared to could probably dodge.

But Belle didn't even blink. She just yawned and let the attack hit her. Ange cried in pain as the electricity shot through her body, nearly collapsing. In comparison, Belle was so lazy she didn't even react to the damage. The only thing she did was finally stand back up.

"Now, façade," Ange ordered. This was one of the problems with using Belle. Because her Slaking was so strong, she refused to fight sometimes, because she didn't want Ange to become too dependent on her strength. She was glad that her pokemon had such respect for her abilities, but in situations like this it could get rather annoying.

This time, though, Belle was ready to fight. She barreled forward with her body burning gold, ready to strike Jaune with her immense power.

"Jaune, volt switch!" Alden ordered. If zap cannon wasn't enough to finish her, then he'd need someone that packed a little more punch than Jaune could offer. Jaune nodded and built up electricity, releasing it in a burst at the Slaking and retreating to his pokeball.

Alden quickly switched to his next pokemon. "Finn! Go!" His Swampert was the perfect pokemon to take down that Slaking. Belle was fast and strong, with the destructive power of a tank. Finn was really the only pokemon he had who could match her in terms of brute strength.

"Swampert!" Finn bellowed, emerging from his pokeball and beating his chest. He approached Belle, who was still charging.

The Slaking collided with Finn, doing some serious damage with her façade. Finn cried out in pain and stumbled back, but he didn't fall. With a roar he reached out and grabbed Belle by the shoulders, holding her in place.

"Finn, use counter!" Alden ordered. Belle's façade had done a lot of damage, but Finn wasn't falling. He would use the strength of his opponent's move against her, to inflict even more pain on her.

With a roar, Finn lifted Belle, startling the Slaking. She wasn't exactly light. But even as Finn seized her, she didn't try to struggle against her grip. She just waited as Finn hoisted her up and slammed her into the ground, using her own strength against her.

Belle hit the ground hard and Ange saw stars. But as sense returned to her she saw Belle lying on the ground with Finn standing over her, arms raised.

"Hammer arm!" Alden ordered. Finn interlocked his fingers and slammed down hard on the Slaking's chest, causing her to cry out in pain. She wasn't able to dodge it, and took a lot of damage as a result of the attack.

Ange coughed, feeling the air knocked out of her as if her chest was being caved in. But she didn't falter against the onslaught, and sent her harmonia to Belle. She couldn't have her pokemon slacking off now, this was no time for loafing around!

Belle apparently agreed. With a roar she rose to her feet and lunged at Finn, glowing gold. Even if the Swampert tried to use counter again to inflict more damage, he would be pretty close to crippled himself if he took the hit.

So Alden didn't let him take the hit. "Finn, use protect!" He ordered. Finn raised his hands and created a barrier of blue light around his body. Belle slammed right into it, her attack doing nothing as she glared through the field at the Swampert on the other side, who looked to her with a smirk.

Ange immediately realized this wasn't going to work. With protect, his Swampert can prevent herself from taking any damage from my moves, she judged. And while Belle is loafing around, that will leave her vulnerable to attacks herself!

There was no way Belle could overcome Finn, not as long as the pokemon could use protect. And she couldn't afford to lose another pokemon so early. Ange knew what she had to do, and called Belle back to her pokeball.

I suppose I really have only one option, she ruefully decided, shaking her head. "Mami, come out once again!"

"Persian!" Her Persian hissed, emerging from her pokeball for the third time.

Well, Ange's certainly fighting an interesting fight! She may have lost her Ditto, but she did some major damage to Corin, and her other pokemon are no slouches either! But hopefully Alden will have the strength to defeat her! His pokemon might be exhausted, but they're certainly making an excellent showing of themselves!