Oh no! Samarra has gotten hold of Maddi! Maddi's ability to tell who was under Samarra's control was a vital weapon in their fight against her, but now Samarra's captured her! Is this checkmate? What are the others doing in this time? Why didn't Wes get to her? And why on earth did Gerard free Ayame, knowing what she was capable of? Remember to review!

Finlay Real: Gerard and his situation will be explored this chapter.

KedharS: That's kind of the point. She's meant to be a unique form of terrifying.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Unfortunately, it might be a little while before we get to that particular battle. We still have to set the stage for a bunch of other important stuff before we can really get into the battles.

Hyphenman: That's a good way to think about it. Samarra's morality and perceptions of the world are on a different axis than those of normal humans. The question is, did her harmonia make her that way? Or was she always a little wrong upstairs?

Tambry96bj: Yep. Couldn't have Rui and Wes without seeing them react to a Shadow Pokemon at least once.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1137

Wes, Rui, Alcea, and Celia raced to the Carver house to check up on Maddi and Gerard. But when they got to the front yard they were in for a nasty surprise. Gerard was there alright, but Maddi wasn't the girl standing next to him.

Alcea's expression took a dark turn. It was Gabrielle. Standing at Gerard's side in a way she hadn't seen since the beginning of the year.

Rui gasped. "That girl!" She recognized the brunette. She'd been the girl who'd accompanied Gerard when he first challenged Alden back in Phenac City! She was another one of Samarra's puppets. Rui had wondered about what had happened to her, but now it seemed clear that she'd received new orders from her "friend".

What wasn't clear, however, was why Gerard was with her.

"Gerard, get back!" Rui shouted frantically. "You might not remember, but that girl is working with Samarra!"

Wes immediately got serious, and Alcea did too. When she'd heard that Gabrielle had been possessed as well she hadn't wanted to believe it, but the proof was standing right in front of them.

Gerard frowned. "She's not 'that girl', Rui," he said calmly. "Her name is Gabrielle. And believe me, I know very well that she's one of Samarra's friends."

It was Celia who put it together first, surprisingly.

"He's working with her," she gasped.

Alcea didn't want to believe it, but she wasn't surprised, either. This was Gerard they were talking about.

"You can't be serious," she scowled. "Gerard, you betrayed us?"

"Oh, no!" Rui cried. "Is Samarra controlling him again?!"

Gerard shook her head. "There's no one else in here," he said, tapping his skull. "What I'm doing right now I'm doing because I want to."

"Why?!" Alcea demanded through clenched teeth.

Gerard's expression clouded over. "Someone like you wouldn't understand," he snarled. "Every time you fight, you do it in front of adoring fans. People respect you for your skills as a trainer, even though I'm stronger than you! What's fair about that?!"

Alcea shook her head. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "That's what this is about, is it?" She asked incredulously. "Your fucking respect?"

"I don't remember what it was like, being under Samarra's influence," Gerard said softly. "So at first, I thought I was being controlled."

"I was there!" Rui shouted. "You WERE being controlled!"

"You mean I finally had what I always wanted!" Gerard shouted. "Ayame told me what Samarra gave me! She gave me her respect and friendship! She helped me become a trainer that other people could look up to and acknowledge as worthy! It was everything I ever wanted, and you and the Commander took it away from me!"

"Where's Madison?" Wes demanded. He didn't care what Gerard was doing right now, or about the bullshit he was spewing. "What have you done with her?"

"Ayame said that Samarra would take me back," Gerard explained. "She would let me become her friend again. All I had to do was let her go. So I did. She's probably taking Madison to Samarra right as we speak!"

He held up a pink pokeball.

"But if you want to get to her, then you'll have to go through the two of us." Gerard threw the pokeball into the air, and Diana emerged. She had a solemn expression on her face.

Gerard smirked. "You're a strong trainer, Wes," he said, "but not even you can defeat a pokemon as strong as Diana! But I look forward to seeing you try. So go on! Send out whoever you'd like, and we'll destroy them!"

Wes reached for his belt, but then stopped himself. His expression softened slightly.

"It looks like I won't have to," he said calmly.

"What the hell do you mean!?" Gerard roared. "Are you looking down on me?! You don't think I'm worth your time?!"

"Why don't you take a good look at your pokemon?" Wes asked, pointing at Diana. "She's in no shape to fight anyone." Confused, Gerard glanced up at her. She was staring at him with a pained expression, her eyes wet with tears.

"What's the matter with you?" Gerard demanded. "Why are you looking at me like that?!"

"Because she doesn't want to battle," Rui said softly. She closed her eyes and listened to the pain in Diana's heart. "You might be too blind to see it, but your Diancie… Diana, she knows that what you're trying to do is wrong."

Gerard couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Diana, what is she talking about?" He asked. "You need to fight! This is the most important battle of our lives, don't you understand that? If we can defeat them, then Samarra will take me back! She'll become my friend again, and I'll finally become a trainer deserving of respect! That's what we've always wanted, isn't it?"

Diana said nothing she just shook her head.

"There's nothing respectable about selling others out for your own gain, Gerard," Alcea glared at him. "This is a whole new low. Even for you, is it? Diana is trying to help you. She's giving you a chance to back down from this insanity and do the right thing for once, don't you get it?"

"Take it from someone who knows," Wes said, a shadow crossing over his face, "power and gained through contemptible means is nothing worth having. If you truly want others to respect you, then you have to start with yourself. If even your pokemon won't respect your decision, then how could anyone else?"

"If Samarra gets her hands on Madison then we're all in serious trouble!" Rui cried. "Her power is the only thing that can help us see who Samarra is controlling! Without her, then there's no telling WHAT Samarra will do next! If her influence keeps growing, if it spreads past the Orre Region, then there's nothing we'll be able to do to stop it! The whole WORLD could be controlled, don't you see how wrong that is?"

Gerard clenched his fists. His heart wavered as rage filled his body. He fell to his knees and smashed his fists against the ground in frustration.

"I FUCKING KNOW!" He screamed. Was his anger directed at Alcea? Wes? Rui? Diana? Samarra? Or at himself? No one knew for sure. But it was Diana he looked to when he raised his head, staring up at her resplendent figure.

Diana's face lit up as she saw the change in his eyes.

"Ice beam."

It lasted for only a moment. The ice beam struck Diana from behind and began to freeze her solid. She let out a pained scream and reached out to her trainer, the last action she made before her body was encased in ice.

"Diana!" Gerard exclaimed, whirling around to see Gabrielle and her Froslass.

"If you won't join our side, then you're a threat," Gabrielle said, narrowing her eyes. "And we have no more use for you."

Those words didn't come just from Samarra. It was with pleasure that Gabrielle relished in finally sticking it to Gerard, after he all he'd done to her in the past.

"Gabrielle, you bi-!" He didn't have time to finish that sentiment. Her Froslass formed a shadow ball in her hands and fired it point-blank, hitting him in the stomach and knocking him to the ground. He didn't get back up.

"Gerard!" Alcea cried. A cursory glance relieved her with the knowledge that he was just unconscious, he hadn't been that seriously injured. Rui ran to his side to give him what care she could, treating his injuries with her harmonia. But after expending everything on Alden's pokemon a few days ago, she still hadn't recovered enough of her strength to bring him back to consciousness.

Her husband was far less nurturing in his immediate reaction to the attack.

"Why you-!" Wes charged at Gabrielle with his pokeball raised, but Gabrielle raised her hand to make a "stop" motion. Then she turned down all but one finger and pointed it at Alcea.

"Only Alcea. Everyone else may go," she said.

It took a minute for Wes to process that.

"Madison Whitmore is being taken to the forest behind Agate Village," Gabrielle said. "If you three want to go after her, that's fine. The only person I care about battling is Alcea."

"No way!" Rui exclaimed, putting her foot down. She'd already had to leave that other boy Dokukage behind to fight against those Shadow Pokemon. Who knew what this girl had up her sleeve? No, she wasn't abandoning anyone else. "That's not happening, right Wes?" She turned to Gabrielle. "My husband will fight you, then we'll all go get Madison!"

But Wes was a lot more cynical than his wife. He knew that in a situation like this, every second counted. So while yes, he could probably defeat this girl, Gabrielle, and he couldn't say for sure whether or not Alcea could, it was more important that they get Maddi back as soon as possible. Gabrielle wouldn't be making his offer unless the chance of actually rescuing her was almost zero, which meant they were almost out of time. They couldn't waste a second.

So while it was awful, leaving Alcea behind to fight a trainer he didn't know if she could beat, it was the same reasoning he'd used to leave Dokukage as well. Maddi was just that much more important. The pragmatic thing to do was to risk the more expendable Alcea, skilled trainer that she may be, for the chance to save her.

But he couldn't bring himself to say it.

So Alcea did.

"We have a deal, is it?" She stated plainly, stepping forward with a pokeball in hand. "You and me, Gabrielle, just like old times, oui?"

Gabrielle smiled. It looked unnatural on her face. "Perfect."

"Alcea, no!" Rui cried. "What if you lose?!"

"I won't lose," she said calmly. "You three just make sure to bring Madison back safely, oui?"

Wes had seen Alcea fight before. He knew what she was capable of.

"Let's go," he said, taking his wife by the arm.

"We're counting on you, Alcea," Celia nodded. She knew what Alcea was capable of, too.

Alcea nodded, with the smallest of smiles on her lips. A faint green aura began to glow around her. "No need to worry, is it?" She assured them, casting her eyes towards the mountain, and the secluded glade within. "My guardian is watching over me, after all."

She turned her eyes to Gabrielle next.

"And this is a foe that deserves my personal attention," she added. "It's the least I could do for my rival, is it?"

Gabrielle's smile grew wider and she nodded.

Wes, Rui, and Celia ran around the girls, heading for the rear of the house. None of them were happy about leaving Alcea behind, but all they could do was hope she would be okay.

Alcea threw her pokeball into the air and the battle began.

Wes's instincts were correct. The reason Gabrielle had offered to let them pass was because it was already too late. Maddi had already been delivered to Samarra, and there was nothing she could do to escape.

With a single touch, Samarra could make anyone she met become her closest friend, uniting their thoughts as one. She BECAME them, in a sense.

So when Maddi felt her fingers brush against her, she knew that any independent thoughts she had would be short-lived.

A few seconds of silence fell over the forest as the two women stared at each other. Then Samarra's expression twisted in confusion.

"Impossible," she mumbled. "I can't feel your thoughts! What's going on!?"

Maddi blinked for a second, enough to confirm that her body was still her own. Then she jerked forward, smashing her skull into Samarra's nose.

"Aaargh!" Samarra screamed, stumbling back and clutching her nose. Blood spurted out across her face. Maddi ripped herself free of the shocked Ayame, slamming her elbow into other girl's leg to knock her off-balance. With that done, she lunged forward and punched Samarra in the face, knocking her to the ground.

"You… you HIT me!" Samarra screamed, unable to believe there was someone her powers didn't work on. "No one, NO ONE has EVER hit me!"

"Get used to it," Maddi growled. She struggled to free her legs from the ropes in order to make a break for it.

But her success was short-lived. Ayame quickly recovered, falling on top of the splayed girl and holding her to the ground.

"Get off!" Maddi thrashed, but Ayame was bigger and stronger than her, and her power was fueled by Samarra's anger.

"How dare you…" The other woman seethed. "I was just trying to be your friend… how is this possible? That eye of yours… somehow, it doesn't just give you the power to see who my friends are, it lets you resist my friendship. Unacceptable."

She paused to calm down, still cradling her nose. "No matter," she mumbled through the blood. "If you won't become my friend, that makes you my enemy. And enemies need to be eliminated. That power of yours makes you too much of a threat."

Maddi didn't feel any anger radiating from the woman anymore, nor from Ayame. She was matter-of-factly explaining why Maddi needed to die, and somehow that was even more terrifying. Maddi was a very calm person and tended to keep her cool, but right now she was really starting to panic. It was the closest she'd been to death since…

…A few weeks ago. Orre had NOT been a fun experience for her.

But to Maddi's fortune, she didn't have to contemplate what "eliminate" meant for very long.

A burst of water as thin as a needle shot through the trees and hit Ayame in the side, knocking her off of Maddi. She cried in pain and clutched her waist, scrambling to her feet. Maddi was stunned. She stumbled into a sitting position and scuttled back, but when Ayame tried to get close another burst of water hit the ground in front of her.

"What's going on?!" Maddi asked, looking around for her savior. But she couldn't see anything through the trees.

Ayame knew what was up, though. She clenched her teeth in frustration.

"Celia," she hissed.

Quite a ways back in the forest, Celia was standing beside her partner pokemon. The Inteleon had lifted his fingers into a gun, using his incredible eyesight to see far through the trees.

"Shan Yu, you found them?" She asked.

"Inteleon," her partner calmly nodded. He kept his fingers raised, ready to fend Ayame off with more snipe shots.

Having been her friend for a while now, Ayame knew what Celia's Inteleon was capable of, and knew better than to get into a fight in this situation.

"We need to back off for now," she advised Samarra, who had already come to a similar conclusion. If they couldn't turn Maddi into one of their friends, then the girl was a threat. But it would be too difficult to deal with her now that they'd been spotted.

"Shan Yu, drive them back," Celia said as they got closer to the clearing. Shan Yu fired more shots of water at the duo, who were forced to back off from Maddi to keep from being attacked. They disappeared into the trees, and Maddi sighed with relief.

A few minutes later, the trio reached her.

"Madison, are you alright?" Wes asked. He stared suspiciously at her, particularly at the fact that Samarra's blood still covered her face.

Maddi sighed. "I'm fine…"

"Are you brainwashed?" Celia asked suspiciously, her Inteleon raising his hand in a threat.

Maddi quickly shook her head. "She tried to convert me, but she couldn't for some reason. I don't really understand it."

Wes frowned. "It might be because of… the 'treatment' you went through."

So that's what it was… Maddi frowned. Having recently come to learn that her DNA had been altered when she was a little girl, there was still a lot about herself that she didn't know. Clearly, part of that entailed an immunity to whatever powers Samarra was using. Maybe because her harmonia was a result of the anomaly… maybe that was also what gave her the ability to tell who was being controlled? It was the only thing that made sense.

"Whatever the reason, it's not important now," Celia said. "The important thing is that you're immune, Madison, which means we have a weapon we can use to battle against the other trainers under Samarra's control!"

"That's right!" Rui said. "If you can't be controlled by Samarra, then we can give you your pokeballs back!"

Recalling her Inteleon, Celia flung a pokeball into the air and sent out her Corviknight. "Wet Dog, find Hiromi," she ordered. "We need to get Madison her pokeballs back!"

"Corviknight!" The weirdest-named pokemon Maddi had ever met squawked, spreading his wings wide. Everyone got on his back and he took to the sky, soaring over Agate Village.

As the wind rushed through Maddi's hair, for the first time today she thought there was a chance they could win this.

So it turns out Maddi is immune to Samarra's abilities! With that bit of hope to raise our trainers' spirits, things seem to be taking a turn for the better! But we're not out of the woods just yet. After his misguided betrayal, the possible ally Gerard has been taken out of commission, leaving Alcea to fight Gabrielle! Will she be able to win?