Things have taken a turn for the betterwith the revelation that Maddi is immune to the effects of Samarra's harmonia. But that doesn't mean that everything will be solved so easily. There are still many powerful trainers under her control, like Gabrielle and Raizer! Raizer in particular will be a significant threat considering how powerful his Zeraora is. The only hope we have right now is Amarillo del Bosque Verde! Will this mystery hero be strong enough to overcome Raizer?

KedharS: Well, he may be a jerk, but I don't think anyone could have seen him actually betraying every human being on the planet coming.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: There are still a decent chunk of battles that still need to happen, but I didn't want to do them all at once. We'll get to the others eventually, for now, let's focus on these fights and see how they go.

Hyphenman: Well keep in mind that touching Samarra tends to result in becoming her friend, and also the fact that she spent most of her life in that cell. Human contact is such a foreign thing that she doesn't quite know how to respond to being the one hit herself, on her real body.

Tambry96bj: Yeah, there are a decent number of fights this arc. I wanted to match up as many people as I could.

Guest: Oop, that was a mistake, nice catch! I fixed it.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1138

The trio of Raizer, Chloe, and Mirar had caught up to their group right at the bank of the river that flowed through Agate Village. And right now, Ian was relieved that they were fighting so close to a major water source.

"Go, Lazuli!" He shouted, sending out his Lumineon. The beautiful pokemon landed in the water with a splash, her fins shining brightly in the river current.

"Kyaaaaah!" Marion squealed with glee at the sight of the fish pokemon. "She's so pretty!"

Ian accepted the compliment with a smile. He hadn't gotten to use Lazuli when fighting against Ross due to the lack of a water source in the Orre desert, so she was in the best shape out of all his pokemon. He just hoped the contaminated stream wouldn't hurt Lazuli too much.

"Lazuli, we need to take down that Excadrill," he explained, nodding to the bulky pokemon standing on the river bank. "To start, use rain-"

He caught himself before he finished that sentence, his eyes shooting to the side. No, what are you thinking? You almost made a huge mistake, idiot! He chastised himself. If he was fighting alone, there would be no doubt that using rain dance was the perfect thing to do in this situation, allowing him to seize an early advantage over the Ground type pokemon.

But he wasn't fighting alone. This was a three-part battle, and he was just one of several people who were fighting.

And one of the pokemon involved was a Mythical Pokemon.

Raizer's Zeraora was a monster. Unlike Gerard, whose possession of Diancie had flown under the radar, and Darla, who'd caught the entire school by surprise with her summoning of Rayquaza, the fact that Raizer's only pokemon was Zeraora was common knowledge at the Pokemon Academy. It wasn't like he needed to waste his time training other pokemon, either, with Zera he had proven himself capable of easily decimating entire teams.

If Lazuli used rain dance right now, that would only give even more power to Zera's thunder attacks. He wasn't about to make that mistake.

It wasn't like Raizer really needed the help, though.

"Zera!" He shouted. "Use power-up punch!"

"Ora!" Zera howled, swinging his fist at Amarillo's Pikachu.

"Chuchu, dodge with agility!" Amarillo shouted.

"Pika!" Chuchu evaded Zera's swift punches with some fancy footwork. The other Electric type may have had incredible destructive power, but when it came to speed and agility the tiny electric mouse couldn't be beat!

"Nicely done!" Amarillo congratulated her.

"Mom!" Marion shouted. "Raizer's Zeraora has the ability Volt Absorb! You can't use Chuchu's Electric type moves against it!"

"…Who is this 'mom' you speak of, young miss?" Amarillo asked, adjusting her mask. "I am Amarillo del Bosque Verde!"

She pushed her mask up the bridge of her nose.

"My true identity? It's a secret. Because it's cooler that way."

Marion slapped her face in frustration at her mother's embarrassing antics. "Oh, mom…"

"Chuchu!" Amarillo shouted, turning back to the battle at hand. "Quick attack!"

"Pika!" Chuchu shot forward like a bullet, charging across the grass towards Zera.

Raizer smirked. "Not happening! Zera, quick guard!"

"Zeraora!" Zera howled, raising his paw and creating a barrier of light. Chuchu slammed right into it and jumped back. She wasn't injured from the collision, but there was no getting through that shield.

"It's okay, Chuchu!" Amarillo encouraged her pokemon. "Get him with your charm attack!"

"Pikachu!" Chuchu nodded. She turned to Zera and batted her eyelashes, blowing him a kiss. Now, Zeraora was a species of pokemon whose sex was unknown. It was only due to his masculine characteristics that Raizer (or more specifically, this author) chose to assign him male pronouns. To this day, it remains a mystery whether or not Mythical Pokemon are capable of reproduction, or how many of them exist.

But even so, they were still susceptible to the charms of an adorable Pikachu, and Zera found it difficult to bring himself to attack the cute little thing.

"Now use play rought!"

…But the feeling was not mutual. Chuchu charged at Zera while his guard was down, raising her fists and unleashing a pummeling of Pika power with her precious punches.

"ORA!" But if Zera was a pokemon who would fall just from that, Raizer would never have gotten near the Eight Leaders.

"Nicely done!" He shouted, relishing in the thrill of the fight. He felt more connected to Zera than ever before! It was like HE could feel the blows his pokemon was enduring, and as a trainer who valued highly-charged, shocking fights more than anything it just served to spur him on even further. "But don't settle for that, Zera! Show that Pikachu what we're made of!"

"Ora!" Zera shouted, taking the play rough attack head-on. He gathered his strength in his fist and swung with all his might, hitting Chuchu in the stomach and launching her across the field with a powerful punch.

"Nice revenge attack," Amarillo complimented her opponent with a polite nod. But behind her mask she was starting to sweat. Chuchu had taken a serious hit from that, it was critical. She gazed across the battlefield at her opponent, who seemed to be enjoying this fight immensely judging from the fierce grin he wore.

With her harmonia, she could sense the energy coming off Raizer. This wasn't like what had happened with Olivia, when Samarra had taken over in the fight. She couldn't sense anything other than Raizer's own will. It was, in a way, almost refreshing. He was such a different person from her, even in her youth. Where as a child Yellow had always disliked fighting and only did so when push came to shove, this boy seemed to relish in the challenge of a strong foe.

This boy… he reminds me so much of him, she thought, a small smile crossing her lips.

"Chuchu!" Amarillo shouted. It was time to rely on her harmonia to the fullest! "We can't back down! Use sweet kiss!"

Chuchu's spirit synchronized with her trainer and her strength and speed increased. She ran across the battlefield and leapt towards Zera, planting a sweet kiss on his cheek.

For a second time, the pokemon was stunned. The effects of the kiss sent a wave of confusion through the Mythical Pokemon, and he staggered back.

"Nice, Chuchu!" Amarillo cheered. "Now, hit him with-"

"Quick attack!" Raizer ordered.

Zera shook some sense back into his skull and shot forward, becoming a yellow blur in the grass as he slammed his elbow into Chuchu's gut.

"Pika-!" Chuchu cried in pain, tumbling back.

"Chuchu!" Amarillo cried. Even with Zera's attacking strength lowered by charm, that hit had done some serious damage.

"You won't be able to confuse us so easily!" Raizer smirked, feeling the energy of Samarra's influence surging through him. "Zera and I haven't got the time for it, not when there's fighting to be had, right partner?"

"ORA!" Zera shouted in agreement. He was still a little disoriented, but not enough to back down from a fight. He raised his paws and began sharpening his claws, increasing his attacking strength.

Amarillo grinned. "Well, I can see you love fighting! But as a pacifist myself, I can say there are merits to a more friendly bout! Chuchu, use charm once again!"

"Zera, get worked up to avoid it!" Raizer ordered. Zera nodded, pumping himself up and boosting his attacking stats, ignoring Chuchu's attempts to charm him again.

Amarillo frowned. She'd have to do better. "It's okay, Chuchu, I still think you're adorable!" She called to her Pikachu. "Now use draining kiss!"

"Pika!" Chuchu nodded, dashing across the grass to place another kiss on Zera's cheek. But the Zeraora was prepared for that, leaping back to avoid the attempt at affection. As he did, he raised his palms, and began to sculpt the electrical aura emanating around him into a ball.

"Aura sphere!" Raizer ordered.

"Ora!" Raising his paw, Zera fired the aura sphere at the approaching Pikachu, hitting her directly. The ball exploded and sent her flying into the air, where she was helpless to defend against his follow-up attack.

"Now, power-up punch!" Raizer shouted. Zera charged across the grass and raised his fist, catching Chuchu as she fell with a strong punch that slammed her into the ground.

Amarillo cried out in pain and clutched her stomach.

"Mom!" Marion shouted.

"R-Return," Amarillo coughed out, recalling her defeated Pikachu.

"Mom, are you okay?!" Marion asked frantically.

Amarllo coughed agan. "Y-Yes, I… err, I mean, who is this 'mom' you speak of? I am Amarillo-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Marion groaned. "Come on, mom! You're not beaten yet! Send out Gravvy or Ratty!"

Amarillo's mask hid a guilty expression. "Yes, well… I would certainly like to do so, but alas… they are both back home at the Aether Foundation."

Marion took a second to process that.

"Are you serious?!" She exclaimed.

"I did not anticipate getting into battle…" Amarillo admitted. "Plus, Gravvy and Ratty were having so much fun… and not only them, Dody and Omny were enjoying themselves with Lusamine as well, I didn't have the heart to bring them all the way here…"

"You're kidding me!" Marion groaned. "So you only have Chuchu and Kitty with you?! Come on, mom, switch with me! I can take him on!"

Amarillo sharply shook her head. "Nonsense! What sort of mother would I be if I let you put yourself in danger like that?" She shouted. "…If I was your mother, of course. Which I am not."

"Mom!"

Amarillo smirked. Behind her mask, her eyes were twinkling. "And besides, don't think that the only pokemon I have are those original six. I still have… my secret weapon! Come out, Finny!"

She flung a dive ball into the air, and an adorable blue dolphin pokemon emerged, landing in the river. He surfaced with a smile on his face, clapping his fins together.

"This is Finny… a regular old pokemon," Amarillo said, her voice brimming with pride. Like mother, like daughter, she shared Marion's passion for fishy friends. "I still remember when I caught him, such a cute little Finizen! He was the first pokemon I caught as a newlywed wife. …Err, I mean, never mind! Just talking about this friend I know!"

"Fin!" Finny cheered.

Marion smiled a little. She knew how much her mother loved Finny. It was one of the many reasons she loved fish pokemon herself. But Finny wasn't a powerful fighter, not like Yellow's normal team. So why was she sending him out to battle a foe like Zera?

Raizer was taken aback by the decision, and he wasn't the only one. While he wasn't one to look down on his opponents, choosing to use a Water type against a powerful pokemon like Zera didn't strike him as the brightest idea.

"Are you taking this seriously?!" Vic sputtered. "Why would you send out a pokemon like that against a Mythical Pokemon! I get that you've got a sweet little story to go along with it, but that guy looks like he'd die from a single thundershock!"

"Yes yes, you're quite right!" Amarillo said, nodding, immediately recalling Finny to his pokeball. "I can't imagine what I was thinking! Come back now Finny, this is no place for an ordinary fish pokemon like you!"

"Fin!" Finny nodded, returning without a fuss. Amarillo quickly switched him for her last pokemon, her Butterfree.

"Go, Kitty! Use sleep powder!" She ordered.

"Butterfree!" Kitty flapped his wings, sending a wave of green powder over the battlefield to put Zera to sleep. If it worked, she'd render him helpless!

"Not a chance!" Raizer shouted. "Zera, use electric terrain!"

"Zera!" Zera raised his paws and slammed them into the grass, covering the entire field in a current of electricity. The shocks from the electric terrain kept Zera wide awake, rendering him immune to the effects of sleep powder.

"No way!" Amarillo gasped.

Marion winced. That wasn't good. Without sleep powder or stun spore, Kitty's ability to combat a pokemon like Zera was very limited.

"That won't work on us," Raizer said. "Now Zera! Use thunder!"

"ZERAORA!" Zera howled, his body building up with electricity. He gathered strength from the electric terrain he'd set and directed it up into the air, before dropping it down on the Butterfree. Under these circumstances Raizer would have been tempted to use rising voltage, but due to being airborne Kitty was immune to the effects of electric terrain and the move's power would have been cut in half. Thunder was a more than adequate substitute.

But not a perfect one.

"Kitty, use protect!" Amarillo ordered. Her Butterfree flapped his wings and created a white barrier of light around his body, which the bolt of lightning bounced off of harmlessly. Kitty didn't even lose altitude.

"I don't like seeing my pokemon get injured," Amarillo explained. "So we've got all sorts of ways to protect ourselves! Now Kitty, use psychic!"

"Butterfree!" Kitty's eyes began to glow red and a red field appeared around Zera, holding him in place. The Electric type pokemon began to be lifted into the air, where he would be unable to fight back against the Butterfree's moves.

"Not a bad plan, but it won't be good enough!" Raizer shouted. He was starting to get frustrated that a trainer of his opponent's caliber wasn't giving him a more exciting fight. "Zera, use electro ball!" He ordered.

"Ora!" Struggling to move through the psychic, Zera raised his paws and held them together, beginning to form an orb of electricity. He fired the orb at Kitty, who was too busy focusing on his psychic attack to be able to dodge.

"Kitty!" Amarillo cried as she felt the electricity shock her as well. But compared to her pokemon's pain, this much was nothing.

Kitty's psychic hold was broken and Zera landed back on the ground. But the fight wasn't over yet. Because Kitty had lifted him into the air, he hadn't been able to gather power from the electric terrain, and therefore the electro ball wasn't nearly as powerful as it should have been. So the Butterfree was still conscious.

"Kitty!" Amarillo had recovered enough from the shocks, and was focusing on keeping her Butterfree safe. "Use tailwind to up your speed!"

"Butterfree!" Kitty nodded, flapping his wings and summoning a powerful gust of wind that carried him forward, giving him the speed and agility he'd need to dodge Zera's attacks.

"Work up, Zera," Raizer ordered, taking this opportunity to pump up Zera's stats again. Maybe it wasn't necessary, but he was beginning to feel a tingle again, like his opponent was building up to something really big.

"Kitty, use bug buzz!" Amarillo ordered. Kitty opened his mouth and released a blast of deafening sonic energy that caused Zera to baulk. But a little bit of painful noise wasn't about to stop the Electric type pokemon, and with a roar he charged forward regardless.

"Shock wave!" Raizer ordered. No more of this dodging stuff. One more hit was all he needed to finish this Butterfree off. Under normal conditions, he might have tried to keep the fight going on longer, but Samarra was pressuring him to finish this now. And once he defeated Amarillo, there were other strong trainers who could hopefully give him an exciting match.

Kitty didn't have time to react as an electric shockwave arced towards him, frying the tiny Bug type pokemon in the sky. He plummeted towards the ground and Amarillo recalled him before he could crash.

Marion was stunned. She knew her mother was one of the strongest trainers in the world, and yet Raizer had just knocked out two of her pokemon and hardly even broke a sweat.

"Shit!" Vic cursed. The others were starting to worry as well.

"…Mom…" Marion mumbled.

Amarillo glanced back at Marion, and the smile she wore reassured the fishing enthusiast.

"Don't worry, Mari," she said gently. "I'm not defeated yet."

She turned back to Raizer, standing with renewed confidence. "Indeed, my foe is a powerful one… but there is nothing to worry about! Even when things look their darkest, hold on and fight to the bitter end, and you'll be rewarded!"

She held up a dive ball. "A real hero… always shows up when things are at their worst!"

Amarillo flung the ball into the air, and a pokemon emerged from within. It was the coolest pokemon Marion had ever seen. He was a fish pokemon, but he stood on his tail like a pair of legs. A pair of gloves covered his dark blue fins, and on his chest was adorned a symbol of a large red heart. He opened his snout and laughed triumphantly, placing his fins on his hips.

"Palafin!" The heroic-looking pokemon boasted, standing proudly in the water.

"What kind of pokemon is that?!" Raizer asked, confused. Then he grinned, feeling the power coming off him. "Well, we'll find out! Zera, use rising voltage!"

"Ora!" Zera nodded, building up electricity through his fur and gathering power from the electric terrain as well.

"Palafin, use jet punch!" Amarillo shouted.

"Palafin!" Her pokemon raised his fin and punched the air, summoning a massive fist of water that slammed into Zera with the force of a water spout. This time, it was the Zeraora that was launched across the battlefield, to everyone's shock. He smashed into a large rock and it shattered to pieces, and he kept going.

"What the hell?!" Raizer gawked. Zera wasn't the only one blown away by that punch, everyone looked on in shock.

"Meet Palafin, my trump card," Amarillo said. "When we needed him most… he was the hero who came to save us in our darkest hour."

"SO COOL!" Marion squealed, her eyes sparkling with joy.

Amarillo smiled, and pushed her mask up the bridge of her nose. "His true identity? It's a secret. Because it's cooler that way."

Wow! How amazing! When it looked like all hope was lost, Amarillo came to the rescue with the amazing Palafin! Where could such a pokemon have come from? And what connection could it possibly have to her other dolphin pokemon, Finny? I, for one, can't see any similarities, Finny is far too mild-mannered to be associated with such a staunchly heroic figure.