Lana's trump card might be a Fairy type pokemon, but she's going to need more than that if she wants to overwhelm Darla with her knowledge of Dragon types! Darla's Goodra is the perfect pokemon for handling a special attacking fairy like Leilani, because her massive special defense will keep her safe. Not to mention her powerful Poison type moves. At this point, the match could go either way!

KedharS: Well, she'll do the best she can. Fairies are really strong, though.

Aquahaze675: Yep, a lot of really major events happened since you last caught up, that's for sure.

Tambry96bj: It's going to be a tough matchup, that's for sure.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1183

"Puff, use sludge bomb!" Darla ordered.

"Goodra!" Puff puffed up her cheeks and sent another wave of sludge rolling towards Leilani. Thanks to her Flower Veil there was no chance of her getting poisoned, but taking that damage was still a pain in the ass, that was for sure.

"Leilani, dodge!" Lana shouted. But it was difficult to dodge, even for a pokemon with Leilani's speed. The Comfey floated above the sludge as best as she could, but it was clear that she was being pressured by these attacks.

It's the tailwind, Lana recognized. Darla's Noivern set up tailwind before she fainted. And now it's boosting the speed of her Goodra. Under normal circumstances, there's no way a pokemon that slow would be able to keep pace with us, but with a tailwind behind her…

The boost from tailwind was annoying. But it wasn't a huge problem. It just meant that Lana and Leilani needed to outlast the Goodra, that was all. If they could keep out of her range and last long enough, the tailwind would peter out, and once it did, Puff wouldn't be capable of setting up another one, and Leilani would have a definite advantage then.

Hopefully she didn't teach her Goodra dragon dance since she's a special attacker. If she did, well… Lana sighed. That would really suck…

"Leilani!" She shouted. "Use synthesis!"

She needed to play the long game here, and restore her pokemon's health gradually. Leilani had taken some hits from the onslaught of sludge bombs, but if she could heal herself, that would offset the damage considerably.

Darla had other plans, however.

"You don't think we'd let that happen, do you?" She scowled, narrowing her eyes. "Puff! Put a stop to that with rain dance!"

"Goodra!" Puff wiggled her arms back and forth, flinging goo everywhere and summoning rain clouds overhead. A downpour opened up over the battlefield, flooding the clearing with a torrent of rain and water.

"Tch!" Lana clicked her tongue in frustration. Leilani stopped glowing. With rain dance active, synthesis was practically useless. It wouldn't be able to restore enough of Leilani's health to be worth anything, so she might as well not bother.

Lana wasn't the only one upset by Darla's decision to call the rain.

"DAAAAAAARLAAAAAAA!" Lila whined, shielding her head with her bag. "It's messing up my hair! Stop it!"

Darla rolled her eyes. Right now, she really couldn't care less about Lila's hairstyle. She had more pressing matters.

"Nicely done, Puff!" She called to her Goodra. "Now, let's show that Comfey why fairies shouldn't pick fights with dragons! Use acid spray!"

"Oh!" Donoma brightened. "Good choice! That's a very powerful move!"

"What does acid spray do?" Giselle asked tentatively. Unlike Lila, at least her former roommate gave her the time of day.

"It's a very insidious Poison type move," Donoma purred, touching her fingers to her lips and shivering. "It may not pack a lot of power, but the move uses a special corrosive acid that wears away at the pokemon it strikes, drastically lowering their special defense with every hit. That Comfey is going to find her flowers wilting very soon."

Lana didn't even give the order to dodge. Leilani took the attack just fine, and it barely even hurt. The acid simply slid off the pink aura covering her flowers.

"But that won't work, Darla!" Lila shouted. "Remember? You can't drop her stats at all, thanks to Flower Veil!"

Darla scowled and clicked her tongue. "So you're saying that even applies to moves that passively drop stats, and not just status moves? Talk about frustrating!"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but you'll have to fight through our defenses as-is," Lana said. "Leilani, dazzling gleam!"

"Comfey!" Leilani began to glow, releasing rays of light at Puff.

Darla was quick to give another order. "Protect!" She shouted. A deep purplish-blue barrier of light appeared around Puff, deflecting the light rays. They may not have been very effective against the pokemon's incredibly high special defense, but she wasn't going to let her pokemon take a hit she didn't need to, either.

Lana scowled. This Goodra was getting annoying. That special defense of hers is absurd. And she's got protect, too. I wouldn't be surprised if she even had a move like amnesia to buff it even higher! No, I don't think we'll be able to get through to her with our raw power… we need to wear her down somehow.

She glanced up at the dark sky. This rain is a problem too… we can't boost our stats very well even if we use growth. What a pain… come on, Lana! You're smart! You can think of something! There's gotta be some way to take that Goodra down!

It actually didn't take long for her to come up with a plan, once she put her mind to it. There was a certain move that was a favorite among Grass type pokemon, and while Leilani may have been a Fairy type, she was close enough to a Grass type to have access to the move.

"Leilani, wait for the shield to drop, then hit her with your leech seed!" Lana ordered.

"Comfey!" Leilani agreed, uncurling her body in preparation.

"Yeah, leech seed, that's a move you'd want to use," Donoma nodded in agreement. "By infecting her opponent, she'll be able to drain Goodra's strength over the course of the battle, instead of having to break through those high defenses."

Lana smiled, wiping the rain from her brow. She'd been denied the chance to heal Leilani's wounds before, but this time it was going to work, she was sure of it.

The barrier dropped, and Leilani immediately fired a blast of seeds at Puff. The leech seeds rained down on the gooey dragon and dug themselves into her slimy skin.

But to Lana's surprise, they didn't take root. Instead, it almost looked like Puff was absorbing strength from them!

"What's going on?!" Lana demanded. "Why isn't the leech seed working?"

"You didn't really think that a body as slimy at Puff's would allow those seeds to take root, did you?" Darla asked, raising her eyebrow. "Of course not. Her ability is Sap Sipper. You must have heard of that one, right? Any Grass type attack used against her is completely nullified, in fact, she can break those moves down with her special slime to restore her health!"

"Yes!" Lila cheered. "Way to go, Darla! That'll show her!"

"Rrrgh!" Lana growled in frustration. It was one thing to have a high special defense that blunted the power of her Fairy type moves. But being able to absorb her Grass type moves completely with an ability? It just didn't seem fair!

But Darla wasn't concerned with "fair" right now. Her tailwind would only last so long.

"Puff, if acid spray won't work, then we'll have to break her down with pure power, understood?" She shouted to her Goodra.

"Goodra!" Puff nodded in agreement, running forward as fast as her pudgy, slime-covered body would allow her. It wasn't incredibly fast, but with the tailwind boost it was fast enough.

Puff opened his mouth wide and fired a massive blast of water at Leilani. The hydro pump may not have been super-effective like the sludge bomb, but it was getting a massive boost of power from the rain, ballooning in size to the point where even Leilani would have some difficulty dodging.

Blocking was another matter, though.

"Petal blizzard!" Lana ordered quickly. Leilani summoned a massive tornado of flower petals by spinning around in a circle, deflecting the powerful blast of water with a powerful wind storm.

"Darn! She just can't get through those defenses!" Lila whined.

"It's worse than that," Alden said, narrowing his eyes. "Right now, the reason she's able to keep up is due to the tailwind. But that will only last so long. When it's gone, her speed will take a significant drop, and when that happens, Lana will probably go on the offensive. It's a very difficult place for Darla to be right now.

Lila really didn't like the sound of that. But on the plus side, Darla didn't look particularly bothered by that possibility, so she was sure that her friend had something up her sleeve.

After all, Darla wasn't the type to sweat stuff like this, Lila knew that better than anyone.

It stung rooting against a Fairy type pokemon, but if it came down to a Fairy type vs. Darla, Lila didn't even have to make a choice.

"Come on, Darla!" Lila called. "You can do it!"

Darla's lips turned up slightly, signaling to Lila that she had heard her. "Thanks for your confidence, Lila!" She called. "Just you watch me! Puff! Use muddy water next!"

Even if they couldn't get the accuracy drop with it, muddy water was still a powerful move to use in a rainstorm.

"Goodra!" Puff roared, summoning a massive tidal wave debris-covered water that swept over the field towards Leilani. The closer it got to the little Comfey the larger it grew from the rain, until it was a tidal wave that completely dwarfed the tiny little flower pokemon.

Lana clenched her fists and focused her harmonia, directing it towards Leilani's special defense. It was what she needed to endure the hit. And indeed, the muddy water washed her away, but she hung on easily, already preparing a counter-attack.

"Use draining kiss," Lana ordered. If Leilani couldn't heal herself with synthesis due to the rain, or leech seed due to Sap Sipper, well, those weren't the only options at her disposal. She could also count on her pokemon like this.

Leilani flung herself towards Puff, uncoiling her body to make a more narrow target as she approached the slimy pokemon like a snake. She wrapped around Puff's neck, startling her, and squeezed down hard.

At the same time, she planted her tiny lips on the Dragon type pokemon, and began to leech energy off of her like a vampire.

"Puff, shake her off!" Darla shouted. Puff tried, swatting at the Comfey with both hands. But because her hands were covered in slimy goo they just slid off her, unable to find any solid purchase. And while she was struggling, her health was still being drained.

"Sorry to say, but we'll be taking as much as we can," Lana said, relaxing slightly. If Leilani could just keep sucking away the Goodra's strength, then even with that massive special defense stat it would only be a matter of time.

"We won't let that happen!" Darla roared, narrowing her eyes. "Puff! Time to make that goo work for you, got it?"

"G-Goodra," Puff said, nodding as best as she could with a collar around her throat. She reached up and slapped at Leilani again, failing to knock her off again.

"It won't work!" Lana said, shaking her head. "We're also using wrap to keep Leilani tight around your pokemon's neck! So she better get comfortable!"

Darla smirked. "Are you sure you're that tight?" She asked.

Lana wasn't sure what she meant. She felt everything that Leilani felt, which means she felt herself wrapping tightly around the Goodra. It was an icky sensation, like submerging yourself in a bathtub filled with slime, but it was necessary in order to win.

But then she realized what Darla was getting at. Leilani… was starting to slip off!

"It's acid armor," Darla said. "By increasing the amount of slime that Puff naturally produces, she can render her body even harder to find purchase on. And remember, your Comfey is wrapped tightly around her, meaning that her flowers are getting covered in the slippery gunk as well!"

"Oh, that's quite brilliant!" Donoma gasped. "Look! Look what's happening to the Comfey!"

Just as Darla said, Leilani's flowers were getting covered in slime the longer she held onto Puff, which was what Lana expected. But what she didn't factor in was the fact that Leilani's main body would get covered in slime as well. Slippery, gooey slime that made it hard to get a firm grip.

So while Leilani thought she was wrapped tightly around Puff's neck, the truth was, her body was slowly slipping apart due to not being able to get a solid hold on her tail.

A few seconds later, she slipped off completely, which was exactly what Darla was hoping for.

"Puff, get back and hit with sludge bomb, close range!" She ordered.

"Goodra!" Puff leapt backwards while opening her mouth, firing a compressed blast of poison at the Comfey.

Leilani was still struggling with the slime that was weighing her own, so she couldn't dodge the attack. The poison hit her head-on and knocked her out of the sky.

"Arrgh!" Lana spat, feeling the poison burning away at her flesh. It wasn't the same sensation as when Cerelia got poisoned, that felt like she was being eaten away from the inside. This was more like being doused with acid.

"Lana! Are you alright?!" Kiana cried.

"To a Fairy type pokemon, poison is like… well, poison," Donoma said. "Their bodies have a very bad reaction to it."

But Lana wasn't going to let a little thing like pain stop her. Her friend Samarra wanted her to win, and her sister was rooting for her too. This was the first good thing that had happened to her since they came to the Orre Region, and she wasn't going to let some pop idol ruin it!

"Leilani!" She shouted. "Shake that slime off and use sweet kiss!"

"Comfey!" Leilani flung herself forward again, and Darla gave the order to dodge. She knew what sweet kiss could do, and she wanted no part in it.

But in spite of her orders, Puff couldn't move fast enough this time.

"Oh no!" Lila gasped, realizing that the powerful wind from before was no longer blowing the rain into her hair.

Midnight's tailwind had finally petered out, and with it, Puff's speed advantage. So there was nothing she could do as Leilani caught up to her, and panted a big kiss on her slimy cheek.

The pheromones from the kiss flooded Puff's system and she stumbled back, her eyes swimming in her head. This feeling of infatuation was so weird, it was like she was in love, but that shouldn't be possible. After all, she was just… well, she was… she…

Lana smiled. "Perfect, Leilani! Now we can take her down! Use dazzling gleam, full power!"

"Comfey!" Leilani spun around in a circle, striking Puff at close-range with a powerful blast of fairy light. Puff braced herself against the attack as best as she could, but she wasn't quite sure why.

"This isn't good," Lila mumbled, resisting the urge to bite her perfectly manicured nails in anxiety. "Puff shouldn't be getting pressed like this…"

Puff had very high special defense, but her speed wasn't all that great. Right now, she was in a very shaky position thanks to the confusion. Even if she wouldn't take much damage from Leilani's attacks, she was still unable to really fire back, and even if she could, it wouldn't be difficult for the tiny fairy to dodge them.

But Darla didn't let anyone see the pickle she was in.

"Puff!" She shouted, hoping her voice made it through the confusion. "Keep up the good work! We've got her on the ropes!"

"Don't you think you've got that the other way around?" Lana asked, raising her eyebrow curiously. "With your speed as low as it is, there's no chance of any of your moves hitting Leilani even if your Goodra would snap out of confusion!"

Darla's lips spread wide in a smile and her eyes glittered wildly. "Oh, you think so?"

Lana tensed, not sure she liked the look on her opponent's face. Did Darla have a trump card she didn't know about?

Fuck. If only Leilani had the power to finish this off fast! Then she wouldn't have to worry. But she didn't like her odds.

Well, nothing to do but do it.

"Leilani, dazzling gleam again!" She shouted.

"Comfey!" Leilani spun in a circle, gathering up light in her flowers. She prepared to release the light in a massive explosion, but she didn't get the chance.

Because Darla asked a very important question of her trainer.

"Say, Lana, why do you think I had Puff summon the rain?" She asked.

"Uh… what?" Lana wasn't sure why she was asking that now.

"It didn't have her use rain dance just to keep your Comfey from healing," Darla continued. "It was for another reason altogether. Because I knew that once the tailwind petered out, the chances of us hitting you would go down significantly."

Lana realized in a flash what Darla was intending.

"Yeah, that could work!" Alden said, coming to the same conclusion.

"Oh, HECK yes!" Raizer whistled. He still wasn't fully with everyone mentally due to being possessed by Samarra so recently, but he was cognizant enough to know a good battle when he saw one, and knew exactly what Darla was about to use.

And it didn't matter that Puff was confused, either. She didn't have to see clearly, or even think clearly. She didn't even have to aim. All she had to do was hear her trainer's voice, and unleash the attack.

"Thunder!" Darla shouted triumphantly, and the sky overhead began to crackle.

Leilani unleashed the dazzling gleam, sending Puff reeling. But at this point, it didn't really matter. The sky opened up and a massive bolt of lightning dropped down on the battlefield, engulfing Leilani completely.

Lana screamed with pain as an agonizingly-high number of volts shot through her body, making her collapse to the ground.

Nicely done, Darla! If your opponent is too hard to hit due to their speed, then just drop a bolt of lightning on their head! But will this be enough for her to defeat Lana's Comfey? Or can the little lei take a hit that powerful? And even if this is the end, will Darla still be able to defeat Lana's sixth pokemon? Things are getting really intense going into this next chapter, we're nearing the conclusion!