Lovecraft is really doing some damage! A Malamar that can spam superpower is a frightening thing. But will tricks like that be enough to take down Mason and his maids? We can only hope. Maybe if Rafe steps in then we can get somewhere, but for now, it looks like it's just Callie holding the fate of the battle in her hands all alone.

KedharS: He's going to do the best he can.

CntBtMJnM: How interesting.

Leppyvstheworld: I'm just going to ignore. If I get reported, I get reported.

Hyphenman: Yeah, it's a pretty difficult situation she finds herself in, that's for sure.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1193

"Lili… gant…" Sadayo whined, trying to stand. She'd taken a serious beating from the Malamar, and her whole body was shaking.

Mason was shaking as well. He felt every blow inflicted on Sadayo, the superpower had almost knocked him over.

"Sadayo… you have to…" He panted. "Hurry… Rem…"

"Gardevoir!" Rem raised her arms and formed a barrier of red light in front of the two of them, protecting herself and her partner from further attacks by Lovecraft.

"Reflect!" Callie gasped. Then she smiled. "Don't worry, Lovecraft!" She called to the Malamar. "Champie can smash right through that-"

"MALAMAR!" Lovecraft swung his tentacle, smashing through the reflective barrier like it was made of tissue paper.

"…Barrier." Callie was starting to wonder if she and Champie were even necessary here.

"Lovecraft is tough, isn't he?" Rafe laughed, patting his sister on the shoulder. "You can trust him, little sister, he does good work."

Callie swatted his hand away. "And you should be helping!" She snapped, shooting him a dirty look. "This battle involves both of us, you know!"

Rafe's response was a laugh. Callie scowled.

"Whatever! If you're not going to help, then we'll fight on our own, right, Champie?" She shouted to her Pancham.

"Pancham!" Champie nodded. He ran after Lovecraft, looking rather adorable trying to stand on the same level as the colossal squid.

"Sadayo, no time for holding back!" Mason snapped. He could tell that his Liligant didn't have much health left, so she would need to unleash the full brunt of her power. "Use leaf storm to blow down that barrier! Then Rem, hit them both with dazzling gleam!"

His two pokemon worked in perfect synergy. Sadayo raised her hands and sent a tornado of leaves flying across the battlefield. The tornado crashed into the light screen Lovecraft had created, and smashed it to pieces. The leaves continued on, slicing up the larger Malamar first before reaching Champie and sweeping him up as well.

"Champie! Lovecraft!" Callie shouted. She was amazed that Mason's Liligant could use a move with that much power even through the light screen. Even Alcea would be impressed.

That was only half of it though. With Lovecraft and Champie temporarily buffered by the leaf storm, it gave Rem the time she needed to strike. A blinding light bathed the battlefield in fairy energy, and she sent beams out through the air the struck both pokemon, knocking them over.

"No!" Callie shouted.

"That's not good," Ian winced. "Callie was doing pretty good, but in the end, something like that happened."

"Sadayo!" Mason shouted. "Finish that Malamar off with energy ball!"

"Liligant!" Sadayo raised her hands and formed an orb of green light, which she infused with nature energy. She turned it towards Lovecraft and prepared to fire, before freezing.

"Rafe?!" Callie sputtered in disbelief. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Rafe had stepped out onto the battlefield, standing directly in the path between the energy ball and his pokemon.

"Malamar?" Lovecraft looked up at his trainer in shock.

"What can I say?" Rafe shrugged. "Seeing Lovecraft fight like that got me all fired up. I wanted to join in too!"

"Are you insane!?" Mason shouted. "Get out of the way! You can't just block an attack for your pokemon! That's against the rules!"

"…Rules?" Rafe tilted his head to the side in confusion. "This… it's not an official match, is it? I thought we were just having a fun battle?"

Callie shook her head, rubbing her temples. Only her older brother would think a life or death struggle for the future of another human being's freedom was just a "fun battle".

Mason hesitated. Sadayo looked back at him, uneasy. Neither trainer nor pokemon was at all comfortable with directing an attack against an innocent human being like this, even if he was their opponent.

But someone involved certainly was.

"Forget him!" Samarra angrily ordered. "Who cares if he's in the way? He's the enemy and he must be stopped! Fire the energy ball!"

That was all the urging Mason needed (along with a light rewiring of his brain courtesy of Samarra's harmonia.

"Fire it now, Sadayo!" He gave the order. And like a dutiful maid should, she carried out her orders perfectly.

"Liligant!" Sadayo fired the energy ball at Rafe, prepared to either hit him or the Malamar on the ground behind him.

What she didn't expect was the short blonde girl performing a diving tackle to push her brother out of the way.

"Graaaagh!" Callie screamed as the energy ball hit her directly. The attack exploded as it hit, wracking her body with pain. She hit the ground hard and rolled into Lovecraft, coughing for air.

"Callie!" Ian shouted.

"She took a direct hit!" Chloe exclaimed, clamping her hands over her mask in horror.

"…Yikes, dude," Donoma muttered, at a loss for words.

"Callie!" Rafe shouted. He wasn't smiling anymore. His expression was strained with horror.

"I told you… *cough* to take this seriously…" Callie panted. She tried to stand, but she didn't have any feeling in her legs. She was feeling a little woozy upstairs. Why did she think it was a bright idea to do something that stupid, again?

Oh, right. Because as a martial artist she had the strength to survive it.

"I-I just…" Rafe had been goofing off, and had nearly gotten hurt for it. He didn't really think that Sadayo would fire directly at him like that. Because he'd vastly underestimated who he was dealing with right now. But seeing his sister take that hit, it had finally sunk in for him. This was a dangerous fight, and his sister had gotten hurt due to his carelessness.

The look of horror on her brother's face was rather vindicating. How many years had she spent trying to make him get serious about something? She'd lost count. But the only thing it had taken was throwing herself in the path of a violent pokemon attack. No big deal.

Rafe gasped. "Callie, your shirt!"

"Huh? My… what?" Callie glanced down at her shirt and gasped. A sticky red substance had start to leak through, in some very familiar places. A bloody "X" was pressed out.

"My… my stitches…" She mumbled. "They must have opened up from the attack…"

That explained the lightheadedness and the taste of iron in her mouth. That was a change of plans. They needed to wrap this up fast, before she bled out in the middle of town.

"Pancham…" Champie was staring at his trainer with a look of horror on his adorable little face. While normally an energetic and cheerful fighter, he looked downright terrified to see his trainer in her current state.

Callie tried to reassure him with a smile.

"Hey, don't worry, pal," she said, sitting up as best she could. "I'll be just fine, see? You just focus on attacking."

"P-Pancham," Champie nodded, clenching his paws into tiny fists and turning towards the injured Lilligant and Gardevoir. He wanted to do something to take them down.

Flames burst out of his fist.

"Oh, nice!" Alden smiled. "A fire punch!"

"Pancham!" Champie charged at Sadayo and threw a fiery fist her way, but the Liligant elegantlydanced aside, evading the attack.

"You'll need to do better than that!" Mason snapped. Ordinarily he'd be completely shaken about having given the order to one of his pokemon to hurt another human being, but right now those feelings were being suppressed. The only thing that mattered was winning. "Rem, use moonblast!"

"Gardevoir!" Rem raised her hands and concentrated fairy energy into an orb of light, which she fired at Champie. The attack exploded and sent him flying through the air.

"PANCHAM!" Champie crashed down in front of his trainer, injured. Callie tasted blood again. She coughed, and called out to her pokemon.

"No…! Champie!"

"Lovecraft!" Rafe shouted. "Use night slash!"

"MALAMAR!" Lovecraft was enraged by what had happened to his partner and his partner's trainer. He charged forward with his tentacles raised, his two main ones glowing with a malevolent aura. With a roar he slashed at Rem, and it was all the Gardevoir could do to teleport out of the way.

Sadayo wasn't so lucky, however. While she could evade the slashes from his tentacles well enough, she didn't have very much stamina compared to the Malamar. So the more he pressed the attack, the sooner it was that she lost her footing and fell over, a completely helpless victim.

Rafe didn't even need to give the order. Lovecraft's rage was all his own.

"Malamar!" Lovecraft unleashed a devastating superpower on the flower pokemon, hitting her in the stomach. Mason doubled over in pain and fell to his knees, his glasses knocked off his face from the shaking of his head.

"That's… agh!" He coughed out.

"Not too fun being on the receiving end of a pokemon attack, huh?" Rafe mused. He narrowed his eyes and his smile took on a cold quality. "Well, let's go, Lovecraft, finish the job."

"Malamar!" Lovecraft raised his tentacle and slammed it down on Sadayo's head. It was little more than a light slap, but with a +3 bonus to his attack stat, it was more than enough to knock the Liligant unconscious.

Then he turned his attention to Rem.

"S-Sadayo, return!" Mason said, flustered that his second pokemon had fallen so easily. But he wasn't done yet. He had more maids to choose from, and the next one was an even better matchup for this battle.

"Tohru, go! You should be able to handle this Malamar no problem!" He shouted, sending out his next pokemon.

"Hatterene," his next pokemon cried. She was a rather interesting pokemon, and like his others, it was another pokemon that was clearly a she. Tohru had a tall, slender figure but most of it was covered by the rainbow-colored hair that trailed down from beneath the large hat she was wearing. Her dark eyes stared soulfully at the pokemon standing across from her on the battlefield.

"Hatterene… another Psychic/Fairy type, huh?" Rafe mused. "What a surprise. You're really aiming for Lovecraft's Dark typing, huh?"

Mason smirked. "It's the tactically sound strategy," he shrugged. "You'd do the same thing, wouldn't you?"

"…I'd use whatever pokemon wanted to fight," Rafe said. He turned to Callie. "It's another pokemon with both types good against your Fighting type pokemon. Do you want to take a break? I can send out another pokemon if you want to hold off."

Callie was amazed. Her brother, the big brother who always shirked work and did whatever he wanted, the brother who she could never count on under any circumstances, was actually offering her the chance to sit back and take things easy, and let him handle it?

That… that had never happened before. He wasn't the sort. Her injuries must have been a lot worse than she'd thought.

But then, she felt like she was going to pass out any second now.

Callie glanced at Champie. He'd taken a pretty big hit himself. She wasn't about to force him to keep fighting if he wanted a break. But what she saw surprised her. Her Pancham stared back at her with an adamant gleam in his eye. He glanced at Lovecraft with admiration.

So that's it. He wants to be tough too, Callie realized.

Callie didn't have harmonia. She couldn't read the thoughts of her pokemon. But somehow, she knew what Champie was feeling. Once upon a time, he and Rio had been the weakest members of her team. They had both looked up to the other powerful Fighting type pokemon she trained with, and fought twice as hard to be on the same level.

Rio had evolved now, and would soon leave Champie in the dust. Before that could happen, Champie wanted to prove his strength by fighting beside a powerful pokemon like Lovecraft.

And if that's what her Pancham wanted to do, then she'd indulge him.

"No… that's fine," Callie said, shaking her head. She tried to stand back up, but her legs were shaking too much. "I appreciate the offer, though, big brother. It really means a lot."

She flashed him a smile. A genuine smile.

Rafe smiled back. "Well then, I hope Champie will be able to keep up with us!"

"…The atmosphere of the battle has changed," Alden mused.

"I think we're going to see something completely different," Ian agreed. He'd studied Rafe's battling style, or lack thereof, but the man standing in front of him was completely different from the guy he knew.

It looked like this time Rafe was completely invested in the battle. Not just a passing fancy this time. His heart pounded in his chest. He couldn't wait to see how this would go.

"Ch-Champie," Callie coughed out, clutching her side. She wondered how many ribs she'd broken this time. "Go on. Do your best."

"Pancham!" Champie nodded gratefully. He turned and ran after Lovecraft, raising his fists. This time, they were crackling with electricity.

"Thunder punch now?" Rafe mused. "You really do teach those punches to all your pokemon, don't you?"

"The typing coverage lets them handle a variety of foes," Callie scoffed. "Remind me again, how many Psychic/Flying type pokemon do you have, big brother?"

"…Fair enough," Rafe laughed, shrugging his shoulders. "Fair enough…"

Champie threw an electrifying punch at the Hatterene, but he never made it that far. Her eyes glowed pink and a pink aura appeared around him, flinging him backwards.

Callie clicked her tongue. She knew this was going to be rough. Champie was used to fighting with brute force, he didn't have much in the way of finesse.

"Malamar," Lovecraft hissed at the Pancham, raising his tentacle. Darkness began to swirl around it and he swung it at the Psychic/Fairy type pokemon.

"Tohru, reflect," Mason ordered. He knew it would do little more than act as a stopgap, but it was better than just letting his pokemon take a direct hit.

"Hatterene!" Tohru's eyes flashed again and a pink barrier appeared around their side of the field, protecting her and Rem from the attacks.

Lovecraft then smirked.

"Malamar!" Then, to everyone's surprise, the dark aura covering his tentacle began spinning like a drill. He drove it down into the grass, plowing through the dirt, and it emerged within the barrier, striking Tohru directly.

"Hatterene!" She croaked in pain, crumpling over from the powerful attack.

"Nicely done, Lovecraft," Rafe complimented his pokemon. "A little bit of trickery never hurt anyone, now did it?"

"Malamar," Lovecraft smirked. He glanced at Champie.

"Pancham!" Champie nodded, understanding what he was getting at. Sometimes, just charging right in wasn't the best strategy, and it paid to think a little bit!

…Well, it paid to think all the time, but that wasn't exactly a lesson Callie was well-equipped to teach her pokemon.

"You're not the only one who can play tricks," Mason said, narrowing his eyes. "Time to show you just how strong Tohru really is! Tohru, use imprison!"

"Hatterene!" Tohru began to glow pink. At the same time, a pink aura appeared around Lovecraft, startling the Malamar.

"A Psychic type attack?!" Callie gasped. "But those don't work on Lovecraft!"

"This isn't an attack," Mason said. "It's a seal. It just won't do to have your pokemon copying from my maids, you see, so I had Tohru put a stop to it. With imprison, your pokemon can't use any moves that we share in common!"

"You're kidding!" Donoma said, amazed. "I've never even heard of a move like that before! How novel and fun!"

"Rafe!" Callie cried. "That means Lovecraft won't be able to set up reflect or light screen anymore!"

"Exactly right!" Mason laughed. "And with those out of the way, we can use our real strength! Tohru, dazzling gleam!"

"Hatterene!" Tohru's eyes flashed and her body began to glow so brightly it was blinding. Champie shielded his eyes from the effects of the light, but then realized that the attack wasn't hurting him as much. He opened his eyes a crack and squinted to see why.

"Malamar!" Lovecraft was standing in front of Champie, shielding the smaller pokemon with his bulky body. He took the full brunt of the Fairy type attack, and collapsed. Still conscious, but practically at death's door.

"Oh, no!" Callie cried.

"Lovecraft, are you okay?" Rafe asked. He could understand why his pokemon made a sacrifice like that, but he didn't like it.

"Malamar…" Lovecraft rasped, glaring angrily at the two Psychic type pokemon across from him.

"P-Pancham!" Enraged and grateful, Champie darted around Lovecraft and raised his fist, charging at the enemy pokemon.

"Wait, Champie, don't just run in!" Callie shouted.

"Fool," Mason rolled his eyes. "Rem, finish him off!"

"Gardevoir!" Rem fired a moonblast at the approaching Pancham, but he darted behind a rock. The moonblast demolished the rock, but Champie had disappeared. Mason blinked. What had just happened?

"He… vanished?" He mumbled, confused. Rem and Tohru glanced at each other, unsure what had just happened.

"Pancham!" Champie erupted from the ground at Tohru's feet, and delivered a powerful punch right into the hat pokemon's stomach. Or at least where he thought her stomach was, anyway. Either way the pokemon stumbled back, shocked.

"Whoa! Awesome!" Callie gasped, her eyes widening. "I didn't even teach you how to dig, Champie!"

"Pancham!" Champie proudly declared, landing on the ground.

"It seems he learned a thing or two about fighting from watching Lovecraft," Rafe laughed. "Keep up the good work!"

Champie nodded back to Lovecraft and then dashed after Rem, but the Gardevoir had seen through his tricks now.

"Gardevoir!" Rem snarled, her eyes glowing red. A red aura appeared around Champie and she lifted him into the air, assaulting him with her psychic powers.

"No, Champie!" Callie cried, coughing frantically. She was getting way more worked up than someone in her condition should be.

"That's not good," Rafe frowned. In his present condition, Champie wouldn't last long from the psychic attack.

"Pan… cham…" Champie coughed out. His vision was getting blurry. He tried to struggle against the psychic forces holding him up, but he couldn't do anything. Weakening, he glanced back at Callie and Rafe, and his gaze fell on the injured Malamar.

His eyes locked with the Dark type pokemon, and then he started to glow.

Oh? What could this be? Some new power obtained at the eleventh hour, to help our heroes win and defeat Mason's maid pokemon? Well it better be good, because a Fighting type pokemon like Champie is really going to have a hard time going up against two Psychic types in a battle, especially when his ally is so injured. Hopefully things will turn out for the best!