Time for the showdown with Callie. Sorry the update took so long, I was dealing with some plagiarism issues over a certain character submission, and didn't want to update until it resolved itself. But don't worry, it was just a misunderstanding, and everything is resolved (for everyone's sake, I will mention no names)

DS49: No problem.

Sonofthetrigod: Well, Callie is the last planned female gym leader, and the other two were… well, I wanted her to be a bit more likeable.

Wildlian: Maybe.

Duskzilla: It's not about height as much. It's about other things. Let's just say that short people are less likely to be as "adult" as Serefina.

Daozang: I thought it would be a "Cynthia" thing to do. She's likely to get more evil as the story progresses (spoilers).

Arcana of the North: I like her quite a bit.

Phantom-Jester: Maybe. Maybe not.

Regiinator: I've decided that Kitty is now officially a stray kitten in the body of a girl. I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT IT, MWAHAHA!

XxbooberryxX: A gym leader OC would be most welcome, please. Otherwise, there's kind of a long line.

My Wunderwaffle iz missin: Most definitely.

Darkhammer: Thanks!

Asdf12345: Sorry, not accepting those kinds of OCs right now, but I like her!

Literalshark: Thanks!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 18

"Wow, Nick, your Mankey is so cute!" Callie said, running her hands through his fur. They were currently seated on the floor of a large dojo on campus, the official club room of the Pokemon Fight Club.

"Um, thanks…" Nick said.

"Come on, Nick, no need to be shy…" Callie said, siding up to him and looking up at him demurely. "So, have you ever done any martial arts before?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Nick said, nodding.

"I knew it, you're in much better shape than I thought you were…" Callie said, blushing, running her hand over his arm.

Suddenly, a plinking sound came from their window. Callie ran over to look out, seeing Cynthia, Blake, and Kitty standing on the ground beneath them.

Kitty had a collar around her neck and was seated in a cardboard box, looking like she was about to cry.

"Hey, Pokemon Fight Club!" Cynthia called out through a microphone. "Send out the virgin! We have a volcano god in need of a sacrifice!"

"WHAT?!" Blake exclaimed. Cynthia put her hand over the microphone and shushed him.

"Over your dead body!" Callie shouted back.

"We're challenging you to a Challenge Battle for Nick!"

"We refuse!" Callie declared. "You don't have anything we want!"

"Oh really?" Cynthia asked. "What about her?"

Cynthia pointed at Kitty's trembling form, smirking.

"Why do we want her?" Callie asked.

"Oh, I'm not offering her for trade…" Cynthia said, smirking. "You'll fight us for Nick… Or else we're going to be forced to leave this poor little kitty outside…"

Everyone stared at Cynthia in shock. Kitty went a paler shade than she had thought possible.

"Poor little kitty…" Cynthia continued. "No way she could ever survive outside in the wilderness on her own… she'd become Pokemon Food in a second… And if not, the rains would come, and the poor little thing would die of the cold…"

You know she isn't a real cat right? Blake asked himself.

Kitty looked like she was going to cry.

"Meow," Cynthia whispered.

"Me-mew… meow…" Kitty cried.

"There, hear that? That's the sound of a poor little kitty crying! Are you really going to abandon her like that?"

"Meeooow…"

"Cynthia, this is a new low," Blake said.

"Oh, come on, I'm not going to do it," Cynthia chuckled, covering the microphone. "Besides, you're the one who wants to get Nick back, right?"

"Captain…" the members of the Fight Club were starting to pity the poor girl.

"Fine!" Callie shouted. "We'll accept your stupid challenge if you promise to leave that poor girl with us if we win!"

"And if we win, we get Nick back. Fair enough."

"Okay then! Let's begin!" Callie jumped from the window, flipping through the air and landing on the ground in front of Cynthia.

"Wait, first, this won't be a normal battle."

"Huh?" Callie asked, confused.

"We're going to do a double battle," Cynthia said, smirking.

"A double battle?" Blake asked, confused.

"A double battle is a battle where both trainers use four pokemon, and send out two pokemon to fight at once against their opponent's two pokemon."

"…That's more math than I've ever seen you do."

"Wait, so two… and two more… but we use four pokemon each…" Callie said, counting on her fingers.

"See, she might be good with one on one, but double battles are the specialty of the Hoenn region, my home region," Cynthia said, smiling.

"Whatever, fine, it's all too confusing!" Callie shouted.

"Sounds good."

"Okay, Champie, Jania, let's go!" Callie tossed out two pokeballs, which her Pancham and her Mienshao emerged from.

"Ruby, Tristan, go."

Cynthia's Mawile and Breloom came out.

"Interesting…" Blake said, surprised. "This is the first double battle I've seen."

"Tristan, use spore!" Cynthia shouted immediately. Green spores shot out from Tristan's collar, covering Jania, causing her to fall asleep.

"Wait, what?" Callie asked.

Cynthia's evil grin widened.

"Ruby, use play rough. Tristan, use mach punch."

Tristan shot forward like a bullet, hitting Champie in the jaw, knocking him into the air, Ruby hitting him with a barrage of punches, knocking him into the ground.

"Champie!" Callie cried out as the two pokemon beat on the Pancham some more, knocking him unconscious.

"My pokemon might not be able to win in a one on one fight, but if I turn it into a two on one, then it's more than easy."

"Ah, so spore puts one to sleep, and then the two of them beat up the remaining pokemon," Blake said.

"Exactly."

This was the underhanded method Cynthia planned to use in order to win.

"…You're not bad," Callie said. "Champie, return."

"Let's just keep it up like this," Cynthia said, smiling.

"Ferno, go." Callie tossed out a pokeball, which an Infernape emerged from, howling in anger.

"…Ah."

Cynthia's plan seems to have met with an unfortunate error.

"Maw…" Ruby growled, and ran towards the Infernape.

"Tristan!" Cynthia cried.

Tristan nodded, opening his mouth, firing a blast of bullet seeds at Ferno.

"Flamethrower!" Callie ordered. Ferno's fiery mane burst up, and he opened his mouth, releasing a blast of flames, incinerating the seeds.

Ruby jumped out of the way, as Tristan ran forward, hitting Ferno in the face, knocking him backwards.

Ruby jumped at the opportunity, using her hair fangs to bite down on Ferno's leg, swinging him into the ground.

Ferno jumped to his feet, fired up, flames bursting passionately from his hair and his fist.

"Maw!" Ruby shouted, charging at the Infernape. Tristan, however, swung his tail out and prevented her from advancing.

"Ferno, use fire punch!" Callie ordered. Ferno nodded, the flames around his hands shooting up until they covered his arms entirely.

"Infernape!" Ferno shouted, charging at the two pokemon, his arms spinning wildly as flames shot from them.

"Dodge it!" Cynthia cried. Tristan skillfully ducked around the flames, head lowered, charging at Ferno. Ruby, not as agile as the grass type, took a few hits before getting to safety.

Ferno raised both fists aimed straight at Tristan, whose eyes narrowed.

The fists collided with Tristan, who cried out in pain. As Tristan was launched back, however, he swung his tail, hitting Ferno in the stomach.

"Infernape!" Ferno cried out in pain as the counter attack hit its mark, knocking the wind out of the fire pokemon as he collapsed to the ground. Tristan skidded across the grass, beating away the flames, rising to his feet shakily.

"Tristan, are you okay?" Cynthia asked worried.

"Bre!" Tristan said, nodding confidently, before wincing in pain.

"He's burned," Kitty said softly.

"Okay, Tristan, return for now," Cynthia said, holding up her pokeball.

"Bre!" Tristan said, shaking his head, glaring at the Infernape who was now rising to his feet.

"Flamethrower!" Callie ordered. Ferno opened his mouth, another blast of flames curling straight for the grass type.

"Breloom!" Tristan shouted, ducking under the flames and charging forwards at the Infenape. Tristan hit Ferno in the chest with a headbutt attack, flipping him into the air.

"Ferno, use flame wheel," Callie ordered. While in the air, Ferno curled into a ball and began spinning, the mane of fire on his head curling around his body until her became a wheel of fire. Similarly with before, blasts of fire began shooting out, raining down on the two pokemon.

Tristan once again skillfully evaded the flames, as did Ruby, who had quickly gotten used to them. Ferno hit the ground fast and immediately shot for Tristan, who quickly jumped out of the way, avoiding the powerful attack.

Ferno pulled to a stop, panting, and spun around, glaring at the grass type angrily.

"Mawile!" Ruby shouted, angrily charging towards the fire pokemon.

"Bre!" Tristan exclaimed, running after her.

"Fire punch again!" Callie ordered. Ferno nodded, running at the Mawile, his fist covered in a blaze of flames.

"Breloom!" Tristan exclaimed, jumping between the two pokemon. Taking the full brunt of the fire punch attack for his teammate, Tristan cried out in pain. However, before he succumbed to the powerful attack, he once again struck a successful counter, this time with his fist, knocking Ferno into the ground.

Tristan crumped to the ground, unconscious.

"Return," Cynthia said, returning Tristan to his pokeball.

Ferno rose up once more enraged, flames dancing angrily around him.

"Oh, shit," Blake said, frowning.

"What?" Cynthia asked.

"I think you just triggered Blaze."

"What?!" Cynthia asked again, still confused.

"It's an ability that some fire type pokemon have," Blake explained. "When they're badly injured, the power of their fire type moves increases by a lot."

"Oh, lovely."

"FERNAPE!" Ferno shouted, flames erupting around him, lighting the grass on fire.

"Oh yeah, we're gonna get in trouble for this," Blake sighed, Kitty shivering in fear.

In a few seconds, the battlefield had turned into a picture of hell as flames danced around them.

"Elise, go!" Cynthia said, tossing out a pokeball, which her Tailow emerged from.

Ruby once again charged at the fire pokemon without thinking for a second about the consequences. However, this time, something was wrong.

"Ferno?! What are you doing? Move!" Callie exclaimed.

"Fer…nape…" Ferno gasped, trying to move, but his limbs were feeling heavy and he could barely stand.

"It's Effect Spore!" Cynthia realized almost at the same time Callie did. "Infernape's last attack must have triggered Tristan's Effect Spore, and now he's paralyzed!"

Ruby hit Ferno in the stomach with a fairy-aura infused fist, the fire type stumbling back in pain.

"Okay, Elise, use wing attack!" Cynthia ordered. Elise shot forwards, head lowered and wings raised, shooting straight at the fire type. However, a powerful blow struck her, knocking her out of the air.

"Elise!" Cynthia cried out.

"…Tail…" Elise gasped out, as Jania, now awake, landed on the ground.

"Perfect timing, Jania," Callie said, grinning. "I guess now we're even, huh?"

Ferno rose to his feet, fire blazing around him, as Jania took a fighting stance.

"This really backfired on you, didn't it?" Blake saked.

"NOT the time, Blake!" Cynthia shouted.

"Ferno, use mach punch!" Callie ordered. Ferno shot towards Ruby like a bullet, fist raised.

"Elise, protect Ruby!" Cynthia ordered. Elise flapped her wings, returning to the sky, and darted in front of Ruby, a barrier appearing between her and Ferno.

"Quick guard?" Callie asked, irritated. "How irritating."

Ruby, not even needing to be ordered, hit Ferno in the chest with a powerful play rough attack, the fire type crying out in pain and falling to the ground, unconscious. The flames died down (though the field was still burning) and Callie returned Ferno to his pokeball.

"Okay, Harriet, go!" Callie said, tossing out a pokeball, which a Hawlucha emerged from. The Hawlucha touched down on the ground, holding her arms out victoriously, and then leapt up into the air.

"Jania, aura sphere," Callie ordered. Jania formed a sphere of energy in the palms of her hands and fired it at Ruby, knocking her off of her feet. Elise, meanwhile, took to the skies to engage the fighting/flying pokemon.

"Elise, double team!" Cynthia ordered. "Ruby, use bite!"

Elise created several copies of herself, flying around the Hawlucha. Ruby, meanwhile, was trying to bite down on the Mienshao; however, she was far too swift, easily keeping out of reach of the Mawile.

Jania whipped her arm forwards, striking Ruby in back, knocking her off of her feet. Ruby rose, irritated, and flipped her hair, trying desperately to bite down on the fighting type.

Harriet landed on the ground, and quickly jumped into the air again, aiming for one of the Tailow. The bird was, unfortunately, only a duplicate.

"Tailow!" Elise cried, striking Harriet in the back with a wing attack, the fighting type crying out in pain and landing on the ground.

"Elise, go help Ruby!" Cynthia ordered. Elise nodded, and shot towards Jania.

"Harriet, use aerial ace!" Callie ordered. Harriet rose to her feet, nodding, and leapt into the air. She disappeared, and appeared in front of Elise, hitting her in the neck with a lariat strike, flinging her into the ground. Immediately, Harriet flipped, floating above her.

"Great! Now finish her off with a Seth Rollins-style phoenix splash!" Callie cheered. Harriet flipped in the air, turning and crashing towards the flying type with her signature flying press attack.

"Ruby, use sucker punch!" Cynthia ordered. Ruby shot forwards, slamming into Harriet, knocking her out of the air and protecting Elise.

Harriet rose to her feet, angry.

"Hah! Screw you, I'm John Cena, bitch!" Cynthia said, smirking.

However, Ruby's triumph was short lived, as by protecting Elise, she inadvertently took her eyes off of Jania.

Jania hit her in the back with a drain punch, Ruby crying out in pain as energy was drained from her body. She turned and whipped her fangs around towards the fighting type, but Jania had already jumped out of the way. Ruby quickly found herself stuck between the two fighting types, trying to protect Elise.

Elise flapped her wings rising to her feet.

"Elise, use agility!" Elise flapped her wings quickly, rising in speed, charging at Jania.

Harriet charged in an attempt to follow her, but Ruby's fangs shot out and grabbed her by the feet, flipping Harriet over her shoulder and slamming her into the ground.

"Jania, use drain punch," Callie ordered.

"Mien!" Jania said, nodding, swinging her fist at Elise. Elise, however, was too quick for her, dodging the attack and slamming in Jania.

Elise pulled back, panting, as Jania gasped in pain. She rose to her feet, badly injured.

"Geez, what kind of attack was that?!" Callie exclaimed. "Jania's nearly down!"

"Elise just hit you with her endeavor attack, that's all," Cynthia said, smiling proudly. "Think of it as a variation on that Blaze skill of yours."

Elise, however, was starting to tire, having taken quite the beating. Ruby wasn't in very good shape, either.

"Jania, let's finish this one off," Callie ordered. "Hit her with your reversal!" Energy surged through Jania's body and shot at Elise, who was far too exhausted to avoid the move, having put all of her energy into that last attack.

The reversal attack struck Elise, who cried out in pain and crumpled to the ground.

"Return," Cynthia said, returning Elise to her pokeball. "Okay then! Rose, let's go!"

Cynthia released her Ralts, who glanced at the two powerful fighting types. However, she didn't seem afraid.

"Jania, go!" Callie ordered. The Mienshao jumped into the air, aiming a high jump kick at Rose. However, Ruby, having shaken off Harriet, ran in front of her, taking the brunt of the attack.

"Ralts!" Rose cried, holding her hands up, releasing a wave of healing energy, restoring a good portion of Ruby's health. Both of Ruby's mouths smile, and she spun her fangs, biting down on Jania's leg.

Finally getting ahold of her, Ruby was not going to let go. She slammed Jania into the ground and moved on top of her, striking her in the chest with a powerful play rough attack.

Harriet leapt into the air, charging at Ruby before she could finish off the Mienshao. However, Rose opened her mouth, releasing a wave of sound that hit the fighting type. Harriet clenched her ears as the fairy type move struck, crashing into the ground.

As Ruby landed the finishing blow on the Mienshao, Rose in turn released a pulse of psychic energy at Harriet, knocking her unconscious as well.

"I… I don't believe it…" Callie said, shocked, staring at her two unconscious pokemon.

"…Yeah, me neither…" Cynthia said, surprised. "…Er, I mean, of course! This was exactly what I had in mind! Now you know just how powerful my pokemon really are!"

"…Wow, you won in a battle style you specialize in with pokemon that had type advantages over an opponent who had no idea how to fight double battles," Blake said, grinning. "Very impressive."

Cynthia stormed over to him, irritated.

"Geez, just congratulate me on defeating a junior! Something YOU couldn't do, if I recall!"

"That was so cool!" Kitty said, her eyes glittering in admiration. "But…"

Kitty looked out over the grassy field, which was less grass and more burning field of smoke.

"Oh, shit."

All of a sudden, rain began pouring down across the battlefield.

"What the-?" Cynthia asked, looking around.

"I should have known it would be you guys!"

Cynthia and Blake turned to see Sango walk up to them, smiling. She was dressed in a blue and grey uniform, styled similarly to a police or military uniform. Floating beside her was a blue pokemon shaped like a drop of rain.

"Sango?" Cynthia asked, surprised. "What are you doing here? And why are you wearing… THAT?"

"I'm here to clean up your mess!" Sango said, frowning. "I had to stop that fire from spreading due to someone's use of stupid fire moves!"

"Hey, don't look at me, it was her fault!" Cynthia said, frowning, pointing at Callie.

"She's right."

Erik, wearing a similar uniform, walked up to the group.

"Sarge!" Sango said.

"I saw the whole thing," Erik said, frowning. "Callie, as a junior, you should know better than to do something like that."

Erik scribbled something down on a note pad, and ripped it off, handing the paper to Callie.

"A citation for using reckless pokemon moves on an unsanctioned battlefield. The bill for repairing the grounds will be deducted from the funding of the Pokemon Fight Club."

Callie's face went pale as she stared at the sum on the paper.

"Hey, Sango, did you get a new pokemon?" Blake asked.

"Oh, this?" Sango asked, smiling. "That's enough, Silver!"

The rain dispersed, sunlight shining through, and the raindrop shaped pokemon transformed, revealing it to have been her Castform, Silver.

"Oh, yeah, my professor said something about Castform changing forms with the weather," Blake said, nodding. "This is the first time I've ever seen it, though."

"Speaking of form changing, what do you think of my new outfit?" Sango asked, spinning around. "I'm officially a member of Campus Security!"

"Volunteer," Erik corrected.

"Yes, officially a student volunteer for Campus Security. So, what do you think?"

"Does it come with a funny little hat?" Cynthia giggled.

Sango glared at her.

"Now then, I almost forgot…" Cynthia turned to Callie, who was still in shock over the bill. "Give us our club member back!"

"…" Callie looked like she was about to cry, but nodded, waving up at her club members.

A few seconds later, Nick walked out of the building, two large members beside him.

"Sorry, I guess this is good-bye…" Callie said, looking down sadly. "It would have been really fun, though…"

"Well, um, if you don't mind…" Nick said, looking away shyly, "I guess, sometimes, I could come over and train… you know, if I'm not busy with my club activities or anything…"

"Really?!" Callie asked, her entire face lighting up with joy. "You mean it?! You promise?! For real?!"

"Well, I mean, yeah, if I have free time, I mean, I guess I could…"

"Yay!" Callie cheered, leaping up to hug Nick tightly.

"Hey, look a happy ending, I guess?" Blake said, still not really sure that Cynthia's "win" was deserved.

"Yeah, well, what did you expect? It's Christmas," Cynthia shrugged.

"…It's September."

"Shut up and don't think about it."

Indeed. Merry Christmas/other holiday you might celebrate. Or just getting time off of work. Or school.