Now that the battles in the clearing have resolved any everyone's licking their wounds, we begin the climax! And to start things off, we'll go back to Maddi! Sweet little Maddi, fighting for her life against the brutal force that is Ayame Toujou! Will Maddi and her pokemon be able to take the Pokeathlete down? And even if they can, what about Wes? Things aren't looking good for our little immune wonder!

KedharS: It really doesn't.

Guest: We'll see. But yes, family drama is definitely on the menu, there's a reason I saved it for the final course.

Hyphenman: As far as school trips go, the damage has been fairly minimal actually. Callie got injured, yes, but Willa just had an overdose. Which could have (and does) happen without any outside interference, just Willa being Willa.

Tambry96bj: To clarify, Willa didn't create the original pills that were being used in Anja Karzat. Rather, someone gave her the recipe to synthesize them herself.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1208

This was a difficult situation for Maddi. Wes had been possessed by Samarra! And while he hadn't made any aggressive moves and was just standing beside the leather-clad woman as a guard, that meant she was the only person left who could fight. Everyone else here was either a Pokemon Ranger whose pokemon weren't suited for battling, someone like Lukas or Allen who COULD fight in theory but would probably lose, or the citizens of Agate Village who didn't have any pokemon at all.

They were all seeking shelter in the Pokemon Center, leaving Maddi as the only one left who could stand up to Samarra and her assault. And while she may have been immune to Samarra's mind control powers, that didn't mean she'd be able to win a pokemon battle.

She only had five pokemon to speak of. If she'd foreseen a situation like this she would have brought one of her type teams with her to Orre, but she hadn't. She just had the pokemon she kept for her own personal use.

Against Ayame Toujou and her team of skilled pokeathletes, would she even stand a chance?

Stop doubting yourself! Maddi bit down on her lip so hard she drew blood. She couldn't hesitate here. She was the only one keeping Rui and Celia and Hiromi safe, not to mention the others. They'd come to save her, and now she was going to return the favor by defending them!

A hand placed on Maddi's back made her flinch, before she felt how gentle a touch it was. She could tell it was Hiromi before the woman even spoke.

"My Aya… she's a sweet, wonderful woman. I know this isn't like her. She hasn't been herself for days. So please… please save her. I believe in you."

Maddi closed her eyes, she could see Hiromi's smile, and her teary face. She couldn't back down. She hardened her resolve and shouted back to Ayame, "bring it on!"

Ayame said nothing. She gave Maddi a stony glare and reached to her belt, taking off a pokeball. "Rhox, you first."

"Golem!" Rhox bellowed, emerging from the pokeball. The Golem made the ground shake as he landed, stomping towards Maddi.

"I expected you to lead with that!" Maddi snarled. "Mist! Go!"

It was a good thing that there was a river right next to the Pokemon Center. If you followed the one the other trainers had been fighting at, it passed right through here. Otherwise, Maddi might have been down to only four pokemon she could fight with.

"Seadra!" Mist emerged from his pokeball and glared. Maddi winced. Her Seadra was one of the more difficult pokemon to use. He just plain didn't listen to her orders sometimes, preferring to do his own thing instead.

That was a problem. Maddi needed all of her pokemon to be on the same page, now more than ever. In the past he had occasionally listened to her pleas, and helped her out when she really needed him to, but could she trust him now?

Well… she did have an edge she hadn't had previously.

I have harmonia now, right? So I should be able to bond with Mist and help him see things my way. Assuming our relationship isn't so tenuous that he wouldn't even respond to me, of course… Maddi had been in lots of pokemon battles, and most of her last ones had involved the use of harmonia, as she'd developed her powers.

But this would be the first battle she fought where she was actively using that ability. (She didn't consider her friendly sparring match with Ian to be on the same level)

She was worried, to put it simply. She'd seen the devastating effects of harmonia on other trainers, and even experienced some of those herself. Did she really have the strength to withstand this? COULD she do this?

Yes, she could. She had to. There was no other choice. Her opponent had harmonia thanks to Samarra, and that woman had a lifetime's worth of experience with it. If she wanted to stand a chance, she'd have to use every card in her hand.

So she focused her powers and tried to form a connection with her Seadra, hoping she could guide the seahorse pokemon and get him onto her side. It was surprisingly easy, actually. As she touched Mist's heart, she realized that he had never been hostile towards her, not in the way she feared. This wasn't like Blake and his Salamence where the pokemon was half-feral and refused to listen on principle.

Mist was just… moody.

And Maddi could do moody just fine. A smirk spread across her face as she ignored the throbbing pain in her head. It was better than the eye ache she'd had.

"Mist! Use bubblebeam!" She ordered.

"Seadra!" Mist flexed his snout and fired a stream of bubbles at the Golem, who kept lumbering forward, ignoring the attack.

"Golem!" Rhox roared as the bubbles burst against his rock-hard exterior. But they didn't even slow him down.

"Tch," Maddi clicked her tongue, she'd almost forgotten! Ayame had trained her Golem for Pokeathlons, and that had included teaching him how to swim! As vulnerable as a Rock/Ground pokemon may have been to Water type attacks, this one in particular could at least resist the pain that came with them.

Seconds later, Rhox was at the edge of the riverbank, which was just where Ayame wanted him to be. She smiled.

"Go, Rhox! Use stone edge!" She ordered.

"GOLEM!" Rhox lifted his arms and flexed, the stones on his body shifting. Several large ones sprung out of his hide and sharpened into blades, quickly replaced by more rocks. The stones rained down on the river.

"Agility!" Maddi ordered. Ayame may have been fast herself, but it was a different story when it came to her pokemon. Rhox didn't have nearly the speed to hit a moving target, especially not one moving as fast as Mist was. The Seadra easily evaded the falling boulders with his quick swimming, keeping an eye out for any opening to attack.

Maddi felt exhilaration run through her body. So this was harmonia? It was like she could feel the wetness of the river washing over her, and the rush of wind as it blew past her wet scales, sending a chill through her body as she swam at top speed. But it wasn't her, none of it was. It was Mist who was swimming in the river, and Maddi was just along for the ride.

Her heart leapt and she smiled a giddy smile that seemed unnatural on her usual cold exterior. Her eyes flashed as she focused her harmonia.

"Mist, use scald!" She ordered. Rhox may have been able to resist regular old river water, but how did he feel about boiling water? It wasn't like her attacks were doing no damage. She could wear him down quite easily she was sure.

Ayame was quick to respond. "Rhox, use rock polish!" She ordered. Rhox scraped away the rough edges on his body and darted to the side, moving much faster now that his body was more aerodynamic. He evaded the wave of boiling water headed towards him, to Maddi's chagrin.

"I should have figured it wouldn't be that easy," Maddi scowled.

"No, it won't be," Ayame shook her head. "Now, let's hamper the movements of that Seadra! Rhox, use stealth rock!"

Stealth rock. It was a move that Maddi had seen coming from miles away. Several of the pokemon she'd raised for her teams knew the move, so she was well aware of how valuable it was for hindering the movement of the opponent.

Only problem- none of her pokemon had the ability to get rid of it.

Rhox fired out more stones, and they hovered in the air around Maddi's side of the field. A good chunk of them floated just above the water as well, greatly hampering Mist's ability to swim. He had to risk cutting his fins open against their sharp surfaces.

"As an athlete myself, I know full well the value of speed," Ayame said proudly, holding her hand over her chest. "And I know how difficult it can be to evade things when you're moving very fast. Thanks to stealth rock, the river is going to be a lot riskier for your Seadra to navigate!"

"Maybe, but we'll be fine," Maddi assured her. "Mist! Change of plans! Hit him with your ice beam next!"

It was a nasty little treat she'd prepared for situations like this one.

"Seadra!" Mist flexed his snout, firing a stream of icy energy at the Golem. The attack was much faster than the scalding water since it only had to travel in a straight line, and even with the boost to Rhox's speed he wasn't able to evade the attack. The ice beam hit him head-on and the Golem cried out in pain, stumbling backwards.

"…Kuh," Ayame grunted, feeling the freezing power of ice beam for herself. But this was nothing. She'd grown up at the base of Mt. Silver! "You think a little cold is going to get me down, you fucking bitch?" She cursed.

"You trained your Golem to withstand water, but how does he handle ice?" Maddi asked, smirking. "I can't imagine there are many ice events in the Pokeathlon."

"That's where you're wrong," Ayame laughed, shaking her head. "Someone needs to watch something besides fucking grunge rock music videos."

Maddi's eye twitched at that comment.

"The Pokeathlon has a wide variety of different challenges, including the vaunted Snowball Fight!" Ayame declared, holding her head up high. "And I'll have you know that Rhox is one of my fiercest competitors in that category!"

Maddi was surprised. A pokemon that big and that easy to hit? "Really? I'm amazed."

"It's not so impressive," Hiromi scoffed. "It's because he's one of the only pokemon on her team with arms."

Ayame turned red. "MOM!" She whined, stomping her foot in frustration. "Don't tell her stuff like that, I'm trying to win!"

"I know you are sweetie, but we have to stop you," Hiromi said, her voice sympathetic. Her heart ached for her daughter, for just a moment there it was like the real Ayame had peeked through Samarra's control. But no, right now her baby girl was being possessed by something evil, and Maddi was the only hope of saving her.

"Whether you can withstand the cold or not is immaterial," Maddi scowled. "It's clear that attack affected you a lot more than my Water type moves, so my choice now is clear! Mist, hit her with your ice beam again!"

"Seadra!" Mist fired another beam of ice at Rhox, but it never hit the target. Ayame was too fast, and she recalled her Golem immediately.

"We've already set up the stealth rocks, Rhox, you can take a break," she smiled. "Let's leave this up to another pinch hitter! Roll, come on out!"

"Voltorb!" Ayame made the quick switch to her Voltorb, the little pokeball-shaped pokemon emerging with a crackle of electricity.

"Oh?" Maddi raised her eyebrow. "I should have figured you'd be using your Voltorb next." She didn't have a Ground type. That was a bit of an issue. "Mist, use ice beam!"

"Seadra!" Mist fired another beam of ice, but this time he was aiming at a much smaller target. Roll swiftly rolled out of the way.

"Close, but that won't cut it with us," Vic smiled. "Roll, use light screen!"

"Voltorb!" Roll flashed, creating a barrier of golden light around their body. It would deflect whatever other special moves Maddi tried to aim their way. Maddi scowled.

"That's… frustrating," she muttered. She was already at a bit of a disadvantage here to begin with. She'd have to recall Mist. But if she did that…

"…So that's your game," Maddi glowered.

"You only have five pokemon," Ayame counted off on her fingers. "Seadra, Duskull, Spheal, Cyndaquil, and Eevee. And two of your pokemon are Water types! Because of that, the number of pokemon you can use is very limited, you don't have a lot of options!"

Maddi scowled at her in reply. Nothing Ayame said was incorrect.

"So to keep from being overwhelmed by type advantages and numbers, you've got to think strategically, isn't that right?" Ayame smirked. "That's why I had Rhox set up those stealth rocks, to wear down your pokemon as you were forced to switch them out!"

"Maybe," Maddi agreed. "But it doesn't mean anything if I don't switch in the first place! Mist, use laser focus!"

"Seadra!" Mist began to concentrate, tightening his focus. Ayame scowled.

"I see, so your goal is to guarantee a critical hit, and increase the power even further with the Sniper ability?" She asked. She could read through Maddi's plan like a trashy romance novel (that she definitely only bought because she was curious that one time, and certainly didn't keep in a locked drawer on her nightstand)

With Ayame's eyes, she could tell the condition of that Seadra. That was how she was able to see what Maddi was building up towards.

And she had to stop it. No way was something like this allowed. But what Maddi said next came as a surprise.

"Actually, Mist's ability isn't Sniper, it's Poison Point," Maddi informed her opponent.

Ayame needed a second to process that. "Poison… Point? What, are you trying to emulate fucking Kate Nomia now?"

Maddi rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, that girl's team can't compare to the Poison Team I raised. But no, the reason for that is because my own pokemon are handled a little differently than the teams I put together."

That got Ayame curious. "What do you mean by that?" She asked. "I thought you built your teams to be perfect, using only the best pokemon!

Ayame didn't admire many people. But she definitely respected those who tried their best and put their all into winning. She did the same. Her team was perfectly crafted to be the best athletes around. Emphasis on "round".

"Ayame, you're training your pokemon for Pokeathlons, isn't that correct?" Maddi asked, gesturing to Roll.

"Yeah, what about it? That's what they're best at," Ayame said.

"What thought went into catching your team, then?" Maddi asked. "I'm sure it wasn't JUST because they were all round, right?"

A quick shift of Ayame's eyes told Maddi that maybe it really WAS that simple. Yeesh. But Ayame's next words quickly put an end to that assumption.

"I looked for the toughest pokemon I could find, the ones who could really rock the categories," Ayame said. "True champions!"

She wore a proud smile as she stared in admiration at her Voltorb.

"So you didn't just catch the first Voltorb or Golem you stumbled across, then, you put a lot of thought into it, right?" Maddi pressed.

"…Yeah, what's your fucking point?" Ayame scowled. "How I put together my team is my business, not yours."

"I know, I know," Maddi nodded. "I'm just saying we're actually quite similar, you and I."

Ayame blinked. Similar? The two of them? She couldn't see one thing she shared in common with the scrawny girl with a bad leg standing in front of her.

…Well, unless sour moods and a penchant for sneering counted. But she was getting better at that, Blake had been a wonder for her attitude!

"You put careful thought and consideration into building your own team of champions," Maddi continued. "I'm sure you used that talent of yours to scout out each and every one of them, finding the ones that had the perfect conditions for competing in Pokeathlons, isn't that right?"

Ayame nodded. "Exactly. I wanted my team to be the best."

"Well, it was the same way with me," Maddi said. "When I assembled my type teams, I made sure to look at all the potential options to build good three-pokemon teams that could fill specific niches, use certain strategies, and altogether cover for the weaknesses of each other so they could take on a wide variety of threats."

"…Makes sense," Ayame agreed. If she had an interest in pokemon battles she would have probably done the same.

"The reason for that," Maddi continued, "is because those teams are… well, there's not a polite way to say that they're 'for work'. But I built them keeping in mind my future with the Battle Frontier, so I wanted pokemon that could win."

Samarra scowled impatiently. She still wasn't sure where the girl was going with this. She urged Ayame to get on with it already.

"So fucking what?" Ayame spat.

"So my pokemon were all raised optimally, caught in no small part due to their natures, abilities, and movesets," Maddi explained. "…But then, you should know that already. After all, you raised a lot of them, didn't you?"

As a senior in the Caretaking Course, Ayame had worked with all sorts of pokemon on behalf of the school. Maddi was right on the money, she knew quite a lot about what the other girls' pokemon were capable of.

"But you see, it's different when it's my own pokemon," Maddi said, turning and smiling slightly at Mist. "I could have traded in Mist here for a different Seadra, one with a better ability, or who would listen to me all the time in battle. If I had been including him on my Water type team, then maybe I would have done that. But that's not why I caught Mist, and it's not why I fight with him. It's because I like him just the way he is."

Smiling felt weird on Maddi's face. It made her cheeks hurt.

"That's a really touching story," Ayame said sarcastically. "No really, brought a fucking tear to my eye. But all that fancy talk, and what you're really doing is making excuses for your pokemon's poor performance, isn't that right?"

"Do you make excuses when your own pokemon don't excel the way they intend them to?" Maddi shot back, making Ayame flinch.

"Th-That's different!" She muttered. "A pokemon can have off days, you know! Their conditions aren't always in peak shape, so-"

"And do you make excuses for yourself, when your relationship is on the rocks?" Maddi delivered the coup de grace. "Do you tell yourself 'well, I'm just this kind of person and I'm doing the best I can, so it's alright if I mess up every once and a while'?"

Ayame made a face like she was chewing on ground glass. Hiromi winced. She hated seeing her daughter like that.

"That's… fucking different… and you know it…" Ayame seethed.

"Oh? Is it really?" Maddi knew it was probably only bad people who took joy in tearing others down like this, but it felt liberating to unload all the annoyance she had with Blake and Ayame into the other girl's lap like this. Cynthia and Sango had dragged her to hangouts filled with so much PDA it made her want to throw up.

"If you really care so much about 'perfect' then why are you and Blake having relationship issues, hmm?" Maddi batted her eyes innocently. "It would be easier on the both of you if just broke things off and pursued people… well, better-suited for your individual needs. A nice little perfect relationship, wouldn't that be just the best?"

She was emulating Cynthia for that last bit, mimicking the redhead's overwhelmingly-grating perkiness. And it was working like a charm. Finally that annoying girl was good for something.

The veins on Ayame's forehead began to throb.

"You don't know a fucking thing about us, you fucking bitch!" Ayame shouted, focusing her harmonia and sending Roll on the attack.

Maddi sighed. She'd goaded Ayame into this outcome. Now she just had to hope her pokemon could survive it.

It's a dangerous game Maddi is playing here, taking stabs at Ayame's relationship. But she raises a valid point. If Ayame cares so much about raising the perfect team of athletes, why doesn't she have the same scrutiny for her dating life? Could it be because maybe "peak performance" isn't everything in the world, hmm?