The duel of dragons between Lana and Darla continues! Who will declare their pokemon the superior of the Hoenn dragons by defeating the other?! Salamence vs. Flygon is a question that's been asked since Gen 3, and we'll hopefully get the answer here! In the meantime, how does Lila feel about all this dragon mayhem? Will Darla end up using Dragon Force? Remember to review!

KedharS: Well, her Flygon is pretty powerful, and she's been doing a good job so far. Maybe she can pull this off!

Tambry96bj: I think it would be an interesting matchup, though Alcea proved in her last battle that her pokemon have the tools to take down Dragon types now.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1179

Lana's heart was pounding in her chest. Darla's words had dropped the temperature of the battlefield a couple dozen degrees just now.

Calm down, she urged herself. She's just bluffing. She's trying to intimidate us, don't let her do it. She sent the same warning to Drakon, hoping that her Flygon wouldn't be worried either.

Her words certainly sounded hollow, however, because she was feeling doubts herself. She waited anxiously for the blue barrier around Crescent to drop.

The second it did, a roar shook the battlefield.

Crescent flew out of the barrier like a cannon ball, his wings spread wide as energy crackled around his body. His front claws were raised, and they were bathed in sapphire flame as he flew at top speed towards Drakon.

Lana had to think quickly.

"Drakon, dodge," she ordered her Flygon. Knowing what she knew about Salamence's massive attack stat, she didn't want her pokemon to be hit by one of those.

But only one person was deciding if Drakon would be capable of dodging or not, and it wasn't either of them.

"Don't let him escape," Darla snarled, narrowing her eyes.

"SALAMENCE!" Crescent shot after Drakon as the Flygon tried to disappear into the sandstorm. He was moving too fast to evade. He overtook the fleeing dragon and raised his claw, slamming it down into Drakon's back with everything he had.

Pain blossomed between Lana's shoulder blades and she stumbled forward, howling in agony. "AAAAGH!" She cried, falling to her knees as Drakon's flew was ripped from his back.

And that was just the first dragon claw. The second came from the side, digging deep into Drakon's guts. It was a painful attack that drew a ton of blood, and even though Drakon was able to fight the Salamence off and escape, it was clear that he was in really bad shape.

"Urrgh…" Lana felt the stabbing pain in her side as badly as her pokemon did. But she couldn't allow it to overwhelm her.

That's when Samarra stepped in and nullified her pain. It was so freeing, not having to deal with the backlash of her harmonia, and Lana stood up, ready to keep going. She knew Drakon was in bad condition, though, so she was going to be careful not to push him too hard.

We need to handle that Salamence. He's too strong, she thought, shaking her head. She wasn't sure that Drakon would be able to fight him off, so that's why she focused on boosting his speed. If he could evade, then he might be able to seize the opportunity to attack and score some serious damage on the other dragon.

"Drakon, use boomburst!" Lana ordered. It might not be a super-effective move, but boomburst would be a lot harder to dodge than a dragon pulse.

"FLYGON!" Drakon raised his antenna and they began to vibrate, generating a sonic field. He released a pulse of sound through the sandstorm that struck Crescent, disorienting him with the overwhelming sound waves.

"Urgh…" Darla shielded her own ears. The power of boomburst was causing her some hearing issues as well. But she didn't let herself get overwhelmed.

They had important work to do, taking down this Flygon. And there was no way she was going to allow her precious Salamence to be defeated by another dragon like this.

"I made you a promise," she hissed, glaring through the sandstorm at Lana. "When the barrier falls… your Flygon will be falling with it."

Lana flinched. And that flinch was all Darla needed.

"Crescent!" She roared, piercing through the cacophony of boomburst with a shout that came from her heart. "Dragon rush!"

"SALAMENCE!" Crescent roared, pushing through the pain. He raised his claws and shot towards Drakon, swinging down in a powerful slash. In spite of how reckless the attack was, Flygon had been too focused on his own attack to dodge. Crescent's claws ripped into Drakon's chest and with a savage howl, he flung his fellow dragon to the ground.

Drakon hit hard. And he didn't get back up.

"No! Drakon!" Lana cried. She could feel the pain her pokemon was in, and urged him to try to rise and fight off the ferocious Salamence. But her wails were ineffectual. Because try as Drakon might to get back to his feet and fly again, Crescent refused to allow it.

"Salamence," he snarled, dive-bombing the wounded Flygon. He raised his claw and brilliant blue flames burned around it, accompanied by crackling lightning.

The dragon claw attack was brutal and final. Drakon was knocked unconscious in an instant, his blood smearing across the grass.

"SALAMENCE!" Crescent stood triumphant over his vanquished foe, ignoring his own wounds. Lana was trying to keep from collapsing herself.

"Yes!" Lila said, pumping her fist in the air. But she still shivered. She was reminded once again of how brutal Dragon type pokemon were, given the savage triumph of Crescent over Drakon. She was glad that she trained Fairy types and wouldn't have to worry about such a thing happening to one of her precious pokemon.

"Lana…" Kiana choked out, seeing the state her sister was in. Even with Samarra's influence guiding her actions, nothing could stop an older sister from caring about her little sister.

But Lana was taking it well, all things considered. With Drakon knocked unconscious, the connection between the two of them from Lana's harmonia had been severed. That allowed her to think with a calmer head as she considered the state of her team and what she should do next.

The answer was obvious, and she knew it before she even returned Drakon to his pokeball. It was just a matter of whether or not it would work.

Lana took a deep breath and focused herself. Darla had gotten the better of her before, with that poison fang. So before she made any important decisions she wanted to check with Samarra first.

"What pokemon should I use next?" She asked, not wanting to make the wrong choice. She respected her own instincts, but Samarra was unquestionably smarter than she was. If she suggested something, then Lana would do it.

What Samarra said next was vindicating.

"Trust your judgment," she stated. "I would have decided to do the same thing you're considering right now, don't worry."

That made her feel much better. She nodded, preparing her next pokemon.

One she'd used before in this battle.

"Sari, come back out!" She shouted, sending out her Sneasel. The sandstorm had started winding down so she didn't need to worry about the weather being a bother.

Darla narrowed her eyes. The Sneasel was back. Well, she expected that. It wasn't like the decision was a bad one on Lana's part. Sari had done a lot of damage to Darla's dragons already, and it wasn't unthinkable that she would do more before this fight was over.

But for now, Darla and Crescent could handle her.

"Crescent, you've still got your dragon dance," Darla reminded her Salamence. "With that speed, we'll be able to take her down!"

"Salamence!" Crescent snarled, flapping his wings and flying towards Sari.

"Sari, use ice shard!" Lana ordered. It didn't matter how fast that Salamence was or what boosts he'd managed to give to his speed. Sari's ice shard was still faster, and would do massive damage to the Dragon/Flying type pokemon.

Chunks of ice shot across the battlefield at Crescent. But Darla had seen this move enough. Crescent might not be as fast as Midnight, but with dragon dance he could more than hold his own. So with a roar the Salamance skillfully evaded the incoming ice, closing the distance between himself and the Sneasel within a few seconds.

"Now Crescent, use flamethrower!" Darla ordered. Even with the boost to his power from dragon dance, flamethrower was still a powerful move that would be super-effective against the Sneasel. More importantly, she didn't want to get closer and use a fire fang, given what the Ice type pokemon might be capable of.

Her caution wasn't rewarded, though.

"Sari, double team!" Lana ordered. As Crescent's flames flew closer to Sari the Sneasel moved from side to side, creating several duplicates of herself. The flames burned through several of them but none hit the real one, and even as Crescent swept his head to the side and burned through more copies in a sweeping pattern, the flames still weren't hitting the real one.

Because the real Sari leapt into the air right before the flames managed to hit her. That was one of the advantages of knowing when the attack was going to come.

"Icicle crash!" Lana ordered. Sari raised her claws and prepared to drop several sharp icicles down on Crescent. They rained down upon the large Salamence like missiles, but only one of them managed to hit the target.

It was quite a scene when it did, though.

"SALAMENCE!" Crescent roared in pain as the icicle pierced through his wing, pinning him down to the ground.

Darla gasped. "No!" With his wing perforated like that, there was no way Crescent would be able to fly, not for the rest of this battle.

Lana smiled. She didn't like doing something so cruel to another pokemon, but the fact that her victory was all but assured now was nice. "As Bagon, Salamence dream of one day flying in the sky, isn't that right?" She said quietly. "Their strong heads develop as a result of leaping from mountaintops to try and fly, and crash down into the ground."

Darla growled, narrowing her eyes into a glare.

"But now your Salamence is grounded once more, what a pity," Lana sighed. "Well, don't worry. We'll make sure to finish him off fast."

"No! Crescent!" Lila wailed. She was so proud of Crescent for managing to take down that Flygon, even if it was a little brutal. She didn't want to watch one of her partner's pokemon get defeated by that Sneasel.

"I won't let you!" Darla roared. A spark of energy surged through her and Lila gasped. Darla's hair was starting to stand on its ends a little, as if she'd been struck by static electricity.

"No, Darla, don't do it!" She cried. "Not Dragon Force!"

That was all it took. One word from Lila and the energy building up around Darla sputtered and died like it had never existed. She nodded her head, not looking her partner's way.

Thankfully, that sudden burst of power was all Crescent needed. And his next action was so brutal it gave Lana pause.

"Salamence!" He roared, lunging forward. A sickening tearing sound pierced the air.

Lila gasped in horror and Darla winced.

Crescent had been so desperate to get to Sari that he had put everything he had into a charge, even though his wing was still pinned to the ground. In doing so, he'd torn right through it. A big chunk of flesh ripped out of his wing and the appendage flopped uselessly behind him. It was a critical wound, and one that could be healed, in time, but for the foreseeable future, Crescent was grounded.

But right now, Crescent didn't care. All that mattered to him was getting to that Sneasel who'd mocked him earlier.

With a roar, Crescent lowered his head, and the red plates on it began to shine silver.

"Iron head!" Lila gasped, recognizing the move just as Crescent unleashed it on the stunned Sneasel, flinging her into the sky.

"Ah!" Lana clutched her stomach as the air was knocked out of her lungs. That iron head was brutal and she could barely stay conscious after being on the receiving end of it. She had to hand it to Darla and her Salamence, the two of them were a lot more ruthless than she'd ever given them credit for.

But it didn't matter now. Things were almost settled. Crescent was crippled. Flying was an impossibility, and even standing looked almost unthinkable, given how much pain her must be in.

This was it, the chance to take him down!

"Sari!" Lana shouted. "He's weakened! Now's your chance!"

"Sneasel!" Sari stood up, shaking. She'd taken some damage from that iron head, but thanks to her trainer's harmonia she was already on the mend. As one of Lana's strongest pokemon, she was more than prepared to take down that Salamence.

She raised her claws and charged forward, ready to put an end to this.

"Fire spin!" Darla ordered. She needed to keep Sari at bay for just a little longer, so she had Crescent make a rather risky play.

Most of the time, moves like fire spin and sand tomb were used to trap other pokemon. But in this instance, Darla was using fire spin around her Salamence. She had Crescent use the attack on himself, summoning a spout of fire that roared around his body, creating a wall of fire that served as a shield to protect him from any incoming ice attacks.

Of course, Crescent wouldn't be able to retreat now. But given his current condition, Darla had no intention of calling him back to his pokeball. All the rest in the world wouldn't fix that wing, and without it, Crescent wouldn't be much good against Lana's future pokemon.

No, it was better to have him go wild here and rampage enough to take down that Sneasel, that was the decision Darla had arrived at.

And as Crescent stomped towards Sari with a pillar of fire blazing around him, it was looking like she'd made the right decision.

"We can't get close," Lana scowled. "And since he's a Dragon type, those flames aren't going to do much damage… how frustrating!"

"Ice type pokemon are a threat to Dragon types," Darla said calmly. "It's the reason so many of my pokemon know Fire type moves. And more importantly, it's the reason I taught Crescent fire spin. He's so vulnerable to ice that I wanted to give him a way to protect himself against it, so that's why I had him use this move."

She smiled.

"Do you think your Sneasel will be able to break through?"

"Wow!" Lila cheered. "That's so smart, Darla! Amazing!" She was still anxious about the state of Crescent's wing, but she trusted that Darla knew what she was doing. But if her pokemon was in that bad of shape, though… it was still worrying. She hoped that Crescent would be alright.

Lana scowled. It was impossible. None of Sari's ice moves would have the strength to get through that wall of fire, she could feel it heating up her face from all the way over here! But she couldn't just give up, either. Sari needed to finish that Salamence off fast, while he was still vulnerable.

She would just have to use another kind of move.

"We'll have to give up on the Ice type attacks for now, Sari," she called to her Sneasel. "Let's use night slash instead!"

"Sneasel!" Sari nodded. She braced herself against the flames she would have to be charging into, with a little help from Lana's harmonia. Raising her claw, dark energy pulsed through it, ready to finish off the wounded dragon.

Sari circled around the pillar of fire, looking for an opportunity to strike from behind and catch the Salamence off guard. Once she took Crescent's back she charged into the flames, cutting through them with her claws as best as she could. But as she emerged from the other side, she and Lana could both see through the pokemon's eyes that it had been a trap all along.

Sari had thought she was attacking from behind, but the truth was, Darla and Crescent had anticipated that move as well.

"Your sneaky Sneasel likes playing dirty," Darla said. She didn't need to see what was going on in the column of fire to know her ploy had worked. "Of course Crescent would expect her to attack him from behind."

Crescent had turned around inside the fire spin, showing his back to the Sneasel. But due to the flames, this had been impossible to make out. So when Sari went around and tried to attack from behind, what she'd done was charge right at Crescent from the front.

And Crescent had already prepared an attack for her.

"This isn't a Dragon type move, but it should be sufficiently brutal against a pokemon like yours," Darla said calmly. "Brick break!"

"SALAMENCE!" Crescent put all the strength he had into his claw, swinging it at the Sneasel's chest. The Fighting type move was four times effective against the small Dark/Ice type pokemon, and when the attack connected it nearly broke every bone in Lana's body.

Lana could feel her chest caving in, her lungs practically exploding; she could taste the iron blood filling her mouth.

But she didn't yield. She couldn't lose this. Sari couldn't lose this. It would damage her pride far too much, and she might never be confident enough to evolve into a Weavile. Lana had waited patiently all this time for Sari to be ready, but a humiliating and painful loss like this would be too much for her.

So she used all the harmonia she had in her to keep her pokemon conscious. As long as Sari was conscious and capable of fighting, then they could win. They just had to withstand this last attack from Crescent.

"Snea… sel…" Sari coughed out.

Darla gasped as the flames died down.

"That wasn't enough?!" Lila cried.

It wasn't. Sari was practically impaled on Crescent's claws, but there was still fight in the small pokemon's eyes. With the same resolve Crescent had used when he'd shredded his wing, she lifted her claws and cried.

"Avalanche!" Lana cried with her.

Sari began to glow white. Massive chunks of ice and snow appeared above her head, summoned using all the pain that Sari had endured from that brutal attack. With a howl she dropped them on Crescent's head in a wave of frozen force, burying the dragon alive.

Darla closed her eyes. Crescent had done all he could. She respected and appreciated the sacrifice he'd made for her.

Now he could rest easy, knowing that the rest of her pokemon would be enough to defeat Lana and her Sneasel.

That was a brutal chapter, yeesh. Between Crescent savagely demolishing Lana's Flygon, and then ripping apart his own wing and practically smashing Sari to pieces with that brick break, Darla's really showing us just how ruthless Dragon type pokemon can be. So what's Lana going to do now? Her Sneasel was her trump card against Darla's dragons, and even if she's still technically capable of battling, she's in really bad shape!