Alden managed to take down Ange's Persian, but the match isn't over yet. Mami did a lot of damage before fainting, knocking out three of his pokemon! Now all the Commander has left are Finn and Corin, will they be enough to win? Ange has two pokemon left as well, but both are in much better shape than his. This is where things start getting really dangerous!

Hyphenman: The reason I chose Ange to be the final opponent in the Battle Tower is because while she doesn't have a personal conflict with the Commander, their ideals and goals are incompatible, which turns this into a battle of ideals. Neither Anabel nor Vic challenged his ideal in any real way, but Ange does.

Guest: I'm glad you're nervous. Hopefully the fight will live up to expectations!

KedharS: And her motivation is certainly compelling, at least in my opinion.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1128

Ange picked herself up off the ground. She was shaking, and felt weak. Eifa's psychic powers had knocked out her Persian, and it was only due to Samarra's influence that her body hadn't succumbed then and there to the pain. Wincing, she recalled Mami to her pokeball and turned to glare at the Commander.

"Don't think… it's over..." She rasped. "I'm still… able to defeat you!"

Alden responded with a cold glare. He was done indulging Ange's disdain for humanity. "Send out your next pokemon," he replied. "Unless you'd like to keep talking about how weak pokemon are for losing, and how they deserve to die if they're too weak."

Ange's eye twitched. "You think that Mami is weak because she lost? …I can't say I blame you. Yes, if this was the wild, then your pokemon would have defeated mine. But you see… Mami isn't alone. I'm here. And I will protect her by defeating the rest of your pokemon. My worldview isn't wrong! If you're strong, you live, if you're weak, you die! Weakness is a sin, and I'm the one who deserves to live! Belle! Avenge Mami!"

The battle had been hard on Ange. She'd lost most of her pokemon already. By her own way of thinking, that meant her pokemon were weak and deserved to die. And yet, she treasured them. She would sacrifice herself to protect them. It was hypocrisy in her thinking that she refused to acknowledge, in part due to Samarra, in part due to her own lack of willingness to confront herself.

"As long as I can win, then it doesn't matter…" Ange spat, more to reassure herself than to reassure him. "We're still stronger… we won't fall… we won't die! But you… someone like you who just fights for fun, without caring about his pokemon… we won't lose to you! Weakness is a sin!"

Ange sent out her Slaking. The large pokemon still refused to stand, lounging back and yawning, taking full advantage of her paralysis to put in even less effort than normal.

But then, it could all be an act. Alden wasn't a fool. When Ange first sent out her Slaking, it had actually been her Zoroark in disguise. And he wouldn't fall for it a second (or third, or fourth) time. He'd clear things up first.

"Finn, use water gun!" He ordered. The barrier around Finn dropped and his Swampert opened his mouth, spitting a burst of water at the Slaking. The boost Finn received from his Torrent ability made the attack more than nothing.

In Alden's eyes, it was the perfect play. If the attack hit, then the Zoroark's Illusion would be broken and he could go from there. If the pokemon dodged, then the speed it would take to do so should indicate that the lazy pokemon wasn't a Slaking, but in fact a Zoroark. So hit or miss, the truth would be revealed momentarily.

Indeed, Belle didn't make any effort to dodge. The water gun hit her right in the face. She scowled, more than miffed at getting a little damp, but there was no transformations. No turning back into a Zoroark for her.

So the pokemon that they were fighting was 100% Slaking. That was good to know.

"Finn! Earthquake!" Alden ordered.

"Swampert!" Finn raised his fist and slammed it down onto the ground, causing the stadium, and the entire tower, to shake.

"Slaking!" Belle roared in pain as she began to shake, and finally she rose to her feet to lurch after the Swampert.

"Okay Belle! Use giga impact!" Ange ordered, narrowing her eyes.

"Slaking!" Belle charged at Finn, moving her body at incredible speed. Alden didn't need harmonia to feel how powerful the move was going to be. Giga impact was in the same league as hyper beam when it came to devastating power; it was a dangerous move that was capable of destroying anything in its path, and the Slaking who was using it was deceptively fast.

…But those moves were only dangerous when they hit.

"Finn! Use protect!" Alden ordered.

"Swampert!" Finn raised his hands and created a barrier of blue light around his body, protecting himself from the Slaking's attack. Belle collided with the barrier and the force of the impact nearly destroyed the ground they were standing on. But it didn't go all the way. Instead, the barrier actually began to move!

Finn felt himself getting pushed back from sheer power, and he forced himself to stand his ground. But it was unreal. The barrier was pushing closer and closer to him, and he was afraid that if he pushed it back it could shatter. This was the first time Finn feared that his barrier would break from the raw strength of an attack.

And then, suddenly, the pressure was gone.

"…Slaking," Belle yawned, flopping back and lounging out on the floor. She had no interest in continuing the attack, and in fact, she couldn't even move.

"I see, so she's using the fact that Slaking has the Truant ability to take full advantage of giga impact's backlash!" Anabel realized. "That's quite a brilliant strategy! It will allow her pokemont to make full use of the destructive power of those moves! And considering they get the boost from being the same type, the damage would be serious!"

"But it doesn't matter!" Vic smirked. "After all, as long as Finn can use protect, then he'll never give that Slaking an opportunity to attack!"

"Go, Finn!" Alden shouted. "Use liquidation!"

"Swampert!" The barrier around Finn dropped and he charged at the Slaking, water covering his body. He ran towards Belle and raised his fist, swinging it in a powerful punch that caught the lounging pokemon in the throat.

The Slaking groaned in pain, but even with Torrent it would take a lot more than that to defeat her. She slowly got up, and yawned.

"Belle," Ange said, yawning herself, "time to get some rest."

"Shit!" Vic cursed.

"Oh, come on!" Rui whined. "That's not fair!"

"Slaking…" Belle yawned and went right to sleep, fully restoring her health.

"You don't need to worry," Ange yawned, feeling quite drowsy herself. Belle was a bad influence on her sometimes. "Belle isn't the glutton that Beel is… she'll just sleep for a while…"

And so, the Slaking did what she'd been wanting to do from the start, and went to sleep, curing her paralysis.

Alden sighed. Might as well get on with it, then.

"Finn! Liquidation!" He ordered. A blue aura wrapped around Finn, boosting him with his Torrent ability. He charged at Belle and raised his fist, swinging it at the sleeping pokemon.

But the Slaking's hand shot up and grabbed Finn's fist, stopping him in his tracks, much to the Swampert's shock.

Ange smirked. "Mega kick."

Still asleep, Belle flailed out with her legs, kicking Finn in the stomach. He stumbled back, clutching his gut and crying out in pain. He'd been at the border of losing consciousness before, and that attack had nearly sealed the deal.

"What the hell?!" Alden exclaimed, shocked.

"What? Did you think your Lucario was the only pokemon capable of fighting while she was asleep?" Ange asked, yawning again. "Belle is the laziest pokemon in the world. But even she has her loyalty to me. This is the agreement we've reached. She will help me fight against you, and in exchange, she will get to sleep as much as she wants while she does it. And thus… sleep talk."

"But on the plus side, she can't go to sleep again," Anabel noted.

"Come on, Finn!" Vic shouted. "You can do it!"

"She's right! Keep going! Give it your best!" Rui cheered as well.

Alden knew what to do right now, or at least he had a good idea. "Finn, I came up with a new plan," he told his Swampert.

It was all thanks to a certain redheaded girl in his organization.

"Use endeavor!"

Finn was on the edge of his rope. Another hit, and he would surely faint. That was a strategy that Cynthia had taken advantage of many times before. With endeavor, he could bring that Slaking down to the same level, and then both pokemon would be within a hit of fainting.

From there, well… he would cross that bridge when he got to it, he figured.

"Swampert!" Finn began to glow, charging at Belle. He tackled the slumbering pokemon head-on, sending her flying backwards. The force of the endeavor wracked Belle's body, draining away most of her strength as she equaled out the damage between the two of them. Bellowing in pain, Belle thrashed in place, but remained asleep.

"That was… quite something," Ange winced, feeling her body take serious damage. "But don't think you'll be able to beat us with a move like that… endeavor can't actually cause a pokemon to faint, after all!"

"No, you're right," Alden agreed. "But Finn doesn't need it to. Because now you're weak enough we can take you down in one hit, before that lazy pokemon can even respond! Finn, use high horsepower to finish her off!"

"Swampert!" Finn lumbered back, lowering his shoulders and getting on all fours. He charged forward like a tank, moving at high speed to take out the rest of the Slaking's health.

But before he could hit, a fist faster than a bullet slammed into his jaw and sent him flying across the battlefield.

"FINN!" Alden shouted.

"It's a sucker punch!" Anabel gasped.

Finn hit the ground hard, caught off-guard by the strike. He was weakened by the blow. He scraped his hands across the floor and tried to stand, but it was clear he didn't have the strength to keep fighting against the Slaking.

"Swamp… ert…" He choked out, taking a shaking step forward.

"I admire you," Ange said, genuinely surprised by the resolve of Alden's pokemon to keep fighting. "But there's nothing to gain from trying to go on. Just give up, you've lost. Your weakness is a sin."

"Swamp…" Finn let out one last choked gasp and fell forward, losing consciousness. And with that, Alden was down to his last pokemon.

"Return, Finn," he said, recalling his Swampert to his pokeball.

"What was that you were saying before?" Ange asked, tapping her chin. "He… 'did his best', right? You should be proud!"

"Just shut up," Alden scowled. "You don't know the first thing about my pokemon and what we're capable of!"

"I know you only have one left, and she's not in the best of shape," Ange pointed out. "But go ahead, send her out. And when we defeat her, I'll be happy to demonstrate why this pathetic 'battling for fun' nonsense was never something you should have put your faith in."

"You're the one who said it yourself," Alden said, narrowing his eyes. "Just because a few of my pokemon are defeated… that doesn't mean the battle is over. Even if, as you say, they are 'weak'… as long as Corin and I are here, we'll come out the victors!"

"Lucario!" Corin barked in agreement, emerging from her pokeball.

Ange shrugged. "I tried. Belle, use swagger."

Her goal was confusing the Lucario again, but it was a pointless goal. And she even knew that, to an extent. Finn might have lost in battle against the Slaking, but he set the stage for Corin to win. By weakening his foe so severely with endeavor, Belle could no longer withstand Corin's attacks, and that was precisely what Alden was hoping for.

"Lucario!" Corin disappeared, using her extremespeed to close the distance between herself and Belle in an instant. She raised her fist and slammed it into the pokemon's gut, forcing her eyes open. The strength of the punch was enough to wake her up, but there wasn't anything she could do with her sudden alertness.

Corin had already accounted for that.

"Power-up punch!" Alden ordered. It was a light attack, but one that was more than enough for taking down a weakened pokemon like Belle. Corin's fist hit Belle in the face and knocked her unconscious, boosting her own power as she did so.

"Sla… king…" Belle yawned, falling unconscious for real.

Ange sighed, rubbing her nose gently. It started bleeding, but she didn't care. Now that her connection with Belle was broken, she was feeling a lot more invigorated and ready to defeat her opponent. She recalled Belle to her pokeball, and reached for her next. She carried seven pokemon with her regularly, but pokemon battles called for six.

This would be her final pokemon, and it was one that had been fighting by her side this entire time, and controlling the flow of the battle.

"Luci! Go!" Ange shouted, sending out her Zoroark. Luci didn't even bother with an Illusion. The pokemon roared, her body surging with alpha might. A similarly dark aura flared up around Ange as she shared in her pokemon's power, her eyes glowing red.

"So they both have one pokemon left," Rui said, her voice trembling. Things had reached a dangerous climax, and the only thing she could do was hope that everything turned out okay. She closed her eyes and prayed for Alden's success, but she still felt ominous energy coming from the pokemon in front of her.

The primal energy coming off of the Zoroark was intense, and the three harmonia users in the stadium were overwhelmed by it. Even Alden felt intimidated. Not only did the Zoroark look different from regular Zoroark due to her white fur and the deep lacerations that crisscrossed her body, but she was larger as well, nearly the twice the size, and towered over Corin.

"Zoroark!" Luci roared, firing a blast of shadows at Corin.

"Corin, dodge with detect!" Alden ordered. Corin had been on the receiving end of Luci's bitter malice attack before, and he didn't want her subjected to that again. Corin nodded and her aura sensors flared up. She covered her fur in a brilliant blue aura, swiftly evading every attack from her opponent as the chilling shadows crashed around her.

Ange smirked. "We expected that from you," she scoffed as her Zoroark sunk into the shadows. The Zoroark's shadow moved in tandem with the crashing shadow waves, circling around Corin and looking for a chance to strike.

Seconds later, the shadows faded away, and Luci had the opportunity to strike. She emerged with claws extended and cut into Corin from behind, the Lucario crying out in pain.

"Corin, bone rush!" Alden ordered. Corin turned and swung her fist, creating a staff of aura in her paw that extended towards Luci. The Zoroark was fast, dodging the attack in a single step, cackling wickedly at Corin's efforts.

"You'll have to try better than that!" Ange snarled, her hair dancing around her in a twisted reflection of her Zoroark's mane. "Shadow ball!"

"Zoroark!" Luci opened her mouth and fired a shadow ball at Corin. Corin moved to dodge, but she found she couldn't. The ball was smaller than a normal shadow ball, and traveled a lot faster as well. Because of that, Corin's instincts were thrown off, and she was hit square in the stomach by the attack, doubling over.

"What was that?" Vic asked, confused. "That shadow ball was way faster than an ordinary shadow ball attack!"

"Of course it was," Ange said, smirking. Red aura danced around her. "The tactics Luci and I developed in combat in the wilds can't compare at all to the ridiculous strategies you value as a trainer. Did your Lucario like it?"

"It was certainly something," Alden said as Corin rose to her feet. She looked relatively fine. "From what I can see, that attack… it was weaker than a normal shadow ball. Smaller, too, but much faster. So you have the ability to change how your moves work?"

"It's called 'move mastery'," Ange said, flipping back her hair. "It's the reason why Mami was able to keep moving so fast, even through paralysis. By mastering a move, a pokemon can execute that move in a way that affects their entire body. What you saw just now was called 'Agile Style'. A pokemon who executes it has the effects and power of their move reduced, in exchange for upping their speed slightly. So even if your Lucario is fast… Luci can move faster. In exchange for a reduction in power, of course," she added.

Alden frowned.

"And with harmonia, she can boost her speed and power even more, helping mitigate the effects," Anabel murmured. "So 'Move Mastery' is what she called it? Odd… I've never heard of a tactic like that, before."

"One more thing," Alden mused. "You called it 'Agile Style' isn't that right? Well, it's certainly something. But I'm guessing there's more to it than that. If there's an 'Agile Style' that boosts speed in exchange for power, then I'm guessing the opposite must be true?"

Ange narrowed her eyes and smirked. Her power surged.

"Luci," she hissed, "show them our 'Strong Style' next."

"Zoroark!" Luci roared, alpha energy surging through her body. She opened her mouth with and fired a massive shadow ball that dwarfed her in size, the orb of darkness flying towards Corin with enough destructive force to tear up the floor as it passed.

Oh man, Ange's really pulling out all the stops now that she's fighting with her last pokemon! Bringing out Move Mastery from Hisui, and using it to the fullest in order to defeat Alden! Can he and Corin stand up against Ange's overwhelming power? Or will they be defeated? Both trainers have only one pokemon left, and they're racing to the climax!