Ian's managed to counterattack against Chloe! While he's still at a bit of a disadvantage in this fight, he's started to rally, and the match isn't over just yet! Maybe he'll be able to develop a winning strategy with the pokemon he has left! But Chloe's a really dangerous opponent, given how much she knows about Ian and his strategies. This fight could really go either way, it seems. But what's going on with Chloe, anyway? Why the fascination with Ian and his strategies? As the final chapter of 2022, I'd like to wish everyone a happy new year!

KedharS: Yeah, he's still at a bit of a disadvantage, but not a massive one. Hopefully he'll be able to figure something out.

Epifanio Therion: I figured that would be like her, taking digs at Chloe from the sidelines. It seems in-character, anyway.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Yep, this is definitely an engaging battle, with Chloe coming up with working strategies to combat Ian, and Ian doing the best he can to hold on. As for who will emerge the victor, well… we'll have to see, won't we?

Hyphenman: Well, anyone could lose, and losing has serious stakes, that's the idea behind Samarra's actions.

Tambry96bj: I agree, it's very amusing.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1145

Chloe stumbled back, feeling her chest nearly cave in from the force of that hydro pump. She wasn't used to battles hurting this much.

Is this… is this what I wanted? She wondered. Briefly, her thoughts trailed back to the reason that she'd joined the Commander's organization in the first place.

Chloe had never been a particularly active girl. When the other students in elementary school were playing in the fields and getting their hands dirty with wild pokemon, she had always been the type to watch from afar and observe. She didn't like the spotlight, or being the center of attention, she always felt more comfortable alone in her room with her books, or listening to music, or playing video games, or embracing her true passion: studying pokemon battles.

But when you came from a family like hers, "avoiding the spotlight" was a difficult task.

"Hey, is she really Elenora's daughter?"

"The famous actress from Kalos?"

"Her?"

"No way, right? I mean, she's so plain."

"No, it's true. Her mom came to pick her up once, and it was definitely her!"

"Whoa! That's so cool! Do you think she could get me an autograph?"

It was always like this. Wherever Chloe went, the rumors often followed. Her mother, Elenora Vernier, was the type of star that occurred maybe 10 or 20 times in a generation. (She was good, but she wasn't THAT good) In fact, most of her relatives on her mother's side of the family were also in the showbiz; actors and actresses, comedians and entertainers, Pokémon Coordinators, you name it. And while none of them had directly pressured Chloe into following in their footsteps, there had always been that cloud hanging over her.

Chloe wasn't some phenomenal talent. She wasn't a skilled actress like her mother. She didn't have the body to be a model, or the face to be on the cover of a magazine. What was a girl to do when she was the daughter of a starlet, but everything about her was so… ordinary?

If Chloe had been the daughter of a librarian, or an office worker, or even just some B-list actress, then it's possible her life would have gone in a drastically different direction. But having spent her life as the normal wallflower in a garden of blossoming talent, she couldn't help but be drawn to those who had what she lacked.

So Chloe entered the Pokemon Academy. She could have relied on her mother's connections to make a name for herself in the Appeals Course if she wanted to, but her goals were far different. She wanted to be a Pokemon Master. Pokemon battles were the one field her family hadn't flourished in, and even if she was just an ordinary girl, she wanted to make a name for herself, as well. Somewhere she wouldn't be compared to Elenora or any of the Verniers.

So she hid who she was. She wore a face mask when going to classes, styled down her bangs to cover her eyes (not to mention the eyepatch she wore to cover her scars) and dressed herself in clothing meant to be overlooked. The worst thing in the world would be people from the Appeals Course asking her about her family, or the Empress trying to scout her.

"Anyone can become a Pokémon Master through hard work and dedication, even without talent or skill."

That was the thesis Chloe sought to prove. It didn't matter that, as far as trainers went, she didn't have skill or talent. She wanted to prove that she could do it with hard work, dedication, and lots of studying, especially the greats. But when she reached her junior year, it wasn't the Battle Course she decided to enroll in. It was the Research Course.

Chloe sought to use her skills as a researcher to study and analyze pokemon battles, to tear apart everything that made good trainers "good" and develop a formula for perfecting pokemon battles as a methodology. It was her belief that, if one were given ample time and preparation, they could develop a team of carefully crafted pokemon capable of winning any battle.

And yet, in spite of her dreams, she found herself being drawn to those talented trainers anyway, like a Venomoth to a flame. So she'd turned down the Phantom's request for collaboration, and set her sights on the Commander instead. After all, where else would she get the most direct experience observing skilled trainers than with someone like him?

The results… had not been encouraging.

"I don't understand!" Chloe would spend most nights telling herself, after observing his fights. "How can someone that stupid win so often?!"

No one could deny that Alden was an excellent trainer. Call it talent, skill, "Sense", whatever, the fact remained that the number of pokemon battles she'd witnessed him losing could be counted on several fingers.

She'd actually battled him once herself, having formed, in her mind, the perfect strategy to defeat his team. It was the product of two straight weeks of all-nighters, pouring over every battle and match, official and unofficial, that she could find a record on.

And he'd smashed right through her plan without even blinking. Then he'd asked her if she wanted a job, to boot! It was so frustrating!

It was like the Commander was a walking testament that spat all over what she was trying to accomplish, and yet she couldn't bring herself to hate him for it. His boundless talent was like a mountain for her to climb, a wall for her to scale, an obstacle that she would have to overcome someday.

So when she was given the chance to prove that she could be more, and use her knowledge to overcome another talented trainer in the form of Ian Davidson, she'd jumped at the idea. Samarra may have been encouraging her, but even without the woman's influence this was a battle that Chloe had longed for herself.

And now that she'd gotten it… things still weren't going as she planned!

"Return," Chloe coughed, recalling Dvalinn to her pokeball. She needed to calm herself down. It didn't matter that he'd defeated Dvalinn. She still had four pokemon left. And besides, she knew that Dvalinn had a disadvantage against Lazuli. So this was just to be expected. Everything was still going perfectly fine.

"Paiea, go," Chloe shouted, sending her Raichu back out. The little mouse pokemon had taken a beating from Fluorite, but he was still more than ready to dish out some damage! And he was in better shape than Lazuli, at any rate.

He won't switch Lazuli out because he knows that she wouldn't be able to take another hit from the stealth rocks, Chloe judged. Knowing that, Ian's going to focus on doing as much damage as he can with her before she goes. So the right thing to do in this situation isn't setting up electric terrain and giving her a chance to strike while we're doing so, it's attacking hard right out the gate!

"Paiea, use thunderbolt!" She ordered, counting on her Raichu's powerful electricity. Even if Lazuli bounced out of the water to avoid the shocks, it wouldn't matter. She wouldn't be able to do anything in the air, and it would give Paiea plenty of time to set the electric terrain. And once that was in place, then there was REALLY nothing she'd be able to do.

"Lazuli! Use signal beam!" Ian ordered. He knew as well as Chloe did that Lazuli wouldn't be able to take much more. And knowing that, he wanted her to make the most out of what little time she had left in the battle.

Lazuli's fins began to glow with the colors of the rainbow and her eyes began to shine as well. Two beams of light emerged from her eyes and spun together in a helix, arcing across the field towards Paiea as the Raichu built up electricity.

That's the only problem, Chloe clicked her tongue in frustration. Without electric terrain, she's still faster than us.

Like Ian, Chloe was having her pokemon make a necessary sacrifice. Paiea took the signal beam head-on, crying out in pain. But even if the attack was super-effective, it wasn't strong enough to knock him unconscious. He released the electricity he'd been storing up in a bolt of lightning that hit Lazuli directly, shocking her and the entire river she was swimming in.

"LUMINEON!" Lazuli wailed in pain. When the electricity died down she was floating on the surface of the river, unconscious.

"Sorry, Lazuli, but you really tried your best," Ian thanked her. She'd fought very hard against several different pokemon, she'd earned a nice rest. Even if Ian was only left with two pokemon, he'd make the most of them.

While Ian was recalling his pokemon, Chloe surveyed the damage. It wasn't looking good. Paiea was almost as injured as Lazuli had been. Another hit would finish him. But luckily, he was very fast, and when he set up electric terrain, he would only get faster. In comparison, both of Ian's remaining pokemon were very slow.

They could do this, no problem. She figured he'd be sending out Diamond next, so at the very least, Paiea would be able to use his speed and special strength to do some serious damage to the Haxorus, and paralyze him as well.

"Diamond, go!" Ian shouted, sending out his Haxorus just as Chloe had predicted.

"HAXOR!" Diamond roared, standing tall and flexing his sharp axe tusks. His power surged upon seeing his foe, Paiea, and he grew even stronger. It was thanks to his Rivalry ability. Diamond loathed other male pokemon, seeing them as threats to his supremacy. And the pokemon he despised the most was Iron, his rival for the position of Ian's most valuable pokemon. It wasn't the Aggron in front of him, though, but it was another male, which was more than enough to get the destructive power flowing through his veins.

Chloe understood that, of course, knowing Diamond well. But as long as there was no method for changing a pokemon's gender, she would make do with who she had.

"Paiea, set up electric terrain, now!" She ordered.

But then she connected with her Raichu, and realized how dizzy she felt. No, this is… confusion! She realized the point behind Lazuli's signal beam a second too late. While harmonia users could easily overpower their pokemon's confusion, that was still an action that took time. And time was very much not on their side, not with a giant killer dragonsaur charging right for them.

Ian didn't hesitate for a second. The confusion was Lazuli's last gift to them, and he was going to make full use of it.

"Shadow claw!" He shouted.

"Haxorus!" With a roar, Diamond raised his claw, and ghostly energy surged out of it in the shape of three long blades. He slashed at Paiea just as Chloe managed to snap him out of confusion, too little, too late.

The Raichu crumpled and Chloe felt her own chest being sliced open, as if three massive gashes had torn themselves out of her. She stumbled and nearly collapsed as the connection between her and Paiea was severed.

"That's… still… within expectations…" She mumbled. So she lost Paiea right on the heels of losing Dvalinn. She still had the edge in this match. Two of her pokemon hadn't even seen battle yet, and even at low health Chiyome was a monster. She could do this. She had to do this, to prove to everyone just what her brilliance and hard work was capable of.

She'd studied Ian's efforts since he began school. That hard work wasn't for nothing, it wasn't. She would win, and when she did… it… yes, it would prove her thesis, that's right. That's what Samarra told her.

To accomplish that, she'd do anything, even things she wouldn't even think of under normal circumstances.

"Vritra! I'm relying on you!" She declared, sending out the only pokemon she had left with the brute strength to match Diamond's ferocity.

"DRUDDIGON!" Vritra roared, the scaly dragon emerging from his dusk ball.

Druddigon were a ferocious sort, and Vritra was no exception. He was the pokemon responsible for all the scars on Chloe's body. He'd taken her eye, and she'd withstood that, making him a member of her team regardless, and in doing so, had earned his respect.

But that didn't mean she could control him. When he went on a rampage, there were serious problems, and because of that, the Pokemon Academy only let her use him under special occasions. And now certainly wasn't one of them. But Samarra was more important than a bunch of rules from a school half a world away. Vritra was a vital part of her strategy, and she was going to win this fight.

"It's dragon against dragon," Darla noted, biting her lip. Under normal circumstances this would be something she'd celebrate, but given who they were dealing with…

Two ferocious dragons tearing each other apart might not be the best thing.

"Vritra, retaliate!" Chloe shouted. Ian wanted to knock out one of her pokemon? Well, she'd make him pay for that!

"Druddigon!" Vritra charged across the battlefield and raised his claw, striking Diamond in the chest with a powerful slash. The Haxorus roared in pain and stumbled back, wildly swinging his tusks at the Druddigon to keep him at bay.

"Retaliate is a powerful move," Ange murmured. "To avenge one's comrade, the user unleashes all the power they've built up in a single strike."

Indeed, for a Normal type move, it had dealt some real damage to Diamond. But the Haxorus wouldn't be fended off by a few good hits. With a roar the dragon charged forward, raising his own claws and striking with a powerful dragon claw attack aimed right for the Druddigon's armored skull.

"Druddigon!" Vritra stumbled back, withstanding the blow as well as Diamond had withstood his. Neither pokemon was willing to give an inch.

Then Callie spotted it. "Hey! Look at Diamond!" She gasped.

Ian frowned as he saw what she meant. It looked like Diamond's attack had actually hurt himself, as well!

"It's Rough Skin," Darla explained. "It's one of Druddigon's abilities. Because it lives deep in caves and has to claw its way into the dirt to find ore to eat, the scales on its hide have developed to be tough, resilient, and sharp. Anything that makes contact with it is going to hurt."

She narrowed her eyes. "…But that doesn't explain how much damage that Haxorus took… it was a lot more than it should have been."

Chloe smirked. "Take a look at Vritra again," she said. "See anything special?"

Ian took a closer look, as did several others. While Vritra lacked the colorful ribbons and accessories that Chloe's other pokemon were adorned with, there was something else about him that stood out. Nestled onto his horned skull was a helmet of some sort, with sharp stones jutting out, exactly where Diamond had struck.

The stones were covered in dragon's blood.

"It's a rocky helmet," Chloe explained. "A very special item. Any move that makes contact with Vritra deals damage to the attacker as well!"

"I see, so by combining that with his Rough Skin ability, any physical attack that makes contact is really going to sting," Ian observed.

"What?! But that's not fair!" Callie wailed. She couldn't believe that using such an item like that was allowed! "So what's he supposed to do if he gets hurt every time he attacks, huh?! That's just… it's not fair!"

She was repeating herself because she couldn't think of anything else to say. While several of her pokemon knew special moves, the majority of their fighting style revolved around physical combat. A strategy like this would be a huge thorn in her side.

"Exactly right!" Chloe nodded. "I gave Vritra this helmet not just because it's an excellent fashion statement, but because he's the pokemon I planned to use to defeat that Haxorus of yours, Ian! Diamond is incredibly strong with a lot of power behind his attacks, but that's really all he has, isn't it?" She smirked.

"What do you mean?" Ian asked.

"Diamond likes to get in close and fight with brute force," Chloe explained. "Whether it's striking with his tusks or slashing with his claws, he wants to grab hold of his opponents and rip them to shreds personally! …But that doesn't work all the time. How well can Diamond fight if every time he lands an attack, he'll take damage himself? I imagine he'll be pretty worn down, before very long."

Ian couldn't say anything back. "You really thought this one through," he had to admit.

Chloe was bursting with pride at his acknowledgment of her preparation. Everything was meant for this moment!

"Of course," she added, "Vritra is under no such restriction himself! He'll be MORE than happy to attack your Haxorus with everything he's got, right Vritra?"

"DRUDDIGON!" Vritra roared in agreement, lowering his head and charging at Diamond. He raised his claws and draconic flames burned around them, accompanied by crackling lightning. The dragon was on the hunt.

In a situation like this, Ian would have trusted Diamond's strength to emerge the victor. But he wasn't about to give an order that would mean his pokemon hurt himself unnecessarily.

"Diamond, get out of the way!" He ordered. "You need to stay on your guard, alright?"

"Haxorus," Diamond growled. The order was insulting. He wanted to fight, DAMN the pain in his claws. But he didn't disobey, jumping to the side to avoid the Druddigon's swipe. In another situation, it would actually be amusing, seeing such a fearsome beast of destruction try so hard to keep from being attacked. But in the current situation, it was a sign of just how bad the situation had become, and how much Chloe's planning had pushed Ian to the edge.

Ian had to think of something, and fast. Would Diamond be able to take down this Druddigon before he took himself down first?

Well, we got a little bit more insight into Chloe's mental process, and not only that, she's also showing the full extent of her planning skills by coming up with a strategy to neuter the offensive powerhouse that is Ian's Haxorus. Even with such a monstrous pokemon at his disposal, victory is far from a sure thing in this situation. So what will he do? Will he find a way to overcome Chloe's excellently-planned strategy?