Kanone managed to defeat one of Wes's pokemon, which is good, but his own team is still at a disadvantage. Hopefully he'll be able to defeat the other pokemon in Wes's party, because if he can't then things are going to get really bad. Wes's Typhlosion has an advantage over his Yanmega and his Espeon has an advantage over Phoenix, so this might end up being a pretty tricky battle for Kanone to win. Let's see if he can do it! Remember to review!

KedharS: Umbreon are pretty resilient, they're the most tanky of the Eeveelutions in my experience.

Hyphenman: Yeah, Kanone and Wes are both very powerful and they both have a lot of experience fighting like this. It makes for a pretty good climax in my book. He's pretty much the only one who COULD stand up against Wes.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1223

"Solaris, use psybeam!" Wes ordered.

"Espeon!" Solaris' eyes flashed red and the ruby on her forehead began to glow. She fired a beam of red light at Phoenix.

"Blaziken!" Phoenix rolled to the side, stunning Wes for a moment.

"Look at that speed!" Rui cheered.

"His Blaziken might be paralyzed, but it looks like his Speed Boost is coming in handy," Ian said with a grin.

"Megan use bug buzz," Kanone ordered.

"YANMEGA!" Megan released a blast of hypersonic energy that made Wes wince, and caused Solaris to falter for a second. But Bagun was there to pick up the slack.

"Typhlosion!" Bagun roared, firing a stream of flame at Megan. The Yanmega was just barely able to avoid the flamethrower in time, disrupting her bug buzz attack to do it. That gave Solaris the opportunity to strike back.

"Espeon!" A red aura appeared around Solaris as the ruby on her forehead started to glow. Phoenix began to glow red as well and was lifted up into the air with her psychic powers. He began to cry out in pain, thrashing against the Espeon's psychic hold.

"Hold on tight, Phoenix," Kanone called. He ignored the pressure in his brain from the psychic attack and focused on Megan instead. "Megan, use leech life!"

"Yanmega!" Megan flapped her wings, shooting through the sky towards Solaris. She opened her mandibles and bit down hard on Solaris's throat, draining energy out of her.

"ESPEON!" Solaris thrashed, her concentration breaking. She had a lot of power, but her psychic attacks needed focus in order to work. And against a pokemon as fast as Megan, it was difficult to build up time to concentrate in her current state.

"Solaris, use reflect," Wes ordered, ignoring the stabbing pain in his neck. He focused his harmonia to give Solaris whatever strength he could, hoping it would be enough to get her to fight off the pain herself.

The ruby on Solaris's forehead began to glow bright red, and a red aura appeared around her again. The aura expanded, solidifying into a barrier, and tore Megan's fangs out of Solaris as it did, leaving her safe behind the barrier. The Yanmega hissed in disappointment, futilely pounding her wings against the screen.

"Nicely done," Wes congratulated his Espeon. "But it's not over yet, you know that! Use light screen next!"

Solaris didn't have any time to rest. Even though she'd just gotten back into the battle and was on the receiving end of a painful leech life that had sapped away a good portion of her strength, she still had the energy to keep going and set up a light screen right after the reflect.

At least, that was her goal. But the problem was, Megan was a lot faster than Solaris at the moment, and a light screen could only come up so fast.

"Bug buzz!" Kanone ordered again. Once more, a high-pitched sonic shriek echoed through town, stunning Solaris as she tried to withstand the attack. Solaris clenched her teeth and tried to put the painful sounds out of her mind, concentrating on her light screen, but it was getting difficult to maintain her focus.

That's when Wes decided they needed to go another way with this.

"Bagun!" He shouted to his Typhlosion. "Use quick attack!"

"Typhlosion!" Bagun nodded, lowering himself onto all fours and dashing towards Megan. It didn't matter how much speed the Yanmega had accumulated with her Speed Boost ability. No pokemon could outrun a quick attack without a priority move of their own, and right now Megan was distracted with another move.

Bagun slammed into Megan from the side, knocking the Yanmega over. Megan tumbled into the grass and flapped her wings to right herself, starting up her bug buzz again. But Bagun's interference had given Solaris enough time to get the light screen up, and now she was protected from the sound by a nice, thick barrier.

"Drat!" Lila scowled. "With those barriers, Kanone won't be able to land any attacks!"

"It's definitely a problem," Giselle agreed. "And just when he was starting to make a comeback, too, this is really bad."

"What are you talking about?" Raizer scoffed. "This is nothing. Just watch! That guy's gonna smash through those barriers again!"

"Oh, that's right!" Lila gasped. "Brick break! His Blaziken can break through reflect and light screen, no sweat!"

"Normally that would be the case," Wes agreed, glaring across the field at Phoenix. "But it's not that simple, is it?"

Kanone smiled. "Oh? Whatever do you mean?"

"Your Blaziken might have gotten enough of a boost from his ability to move at a somewhat-normal speed, I'll give you that," Wes admitted. "But he's still not fast enough to catch up to my pokemon thanks to that paralysis. Of course, you could always use the trick from last time, the one that took down Lunet… but I don't think you will, will you?"

Kanone narrowed his eyes. "…Oh?"

"By using psychic on your Blaziken, you'll be doing a lot of damage to him," Wes calmly explained. "How much health could he have left? Are you really willing to risk it?"

Kanone paused, then shrugged his shoulders and sighed in defeat. "…You're right," he admitted. "I'm not willing to risk that. But on the other hand… I can always attack like this, right?"

He turned to Phoenix and nodded.

"Blaziken!" Phoenix crouched down in the grass and raised his fist, punching the ground with everything he had. The battlefield began to shake and Wes was nearly thrown off his balance.

"Earthquake again?" He snarled. "That won't be enough to break through reflect!"

He wasn't wrong. As the ground began shaking the red barrier reappeared, and it was shaking as well. But the surface remained intact, not marred in the slightest by cracks or holes.

"Reflect and light screen can protect against a lot of attacks," Kanone acknowledged. "But they can't protect from everything. Just look."

He pointed at Wes's two pokemon. Bagun and Solaris were both being shaken by the earthquake, fighting to stay standing. Wes scowled.

"Earthquake is just one of those kinds of moves," Kanone shrugged with a smile. "Even if your pokemon ARE hiding behind a barrier like that, it's not going to do much to stop the ground from shaking, now is it?"

"Maybe not," Wes admitted. "But we can always do this! Solaris, use telepathy!"

"Espeon!" Solaris' ruby began to glow again, and a red aura appeared around her and Bagun. Using her psychic powers, she lifted them up off of the ground, rendering them immune to the effects of the earthquake.

"Psychic type pokemon have quite a bit of utility in double battles due to their psychic powers," Rafe noted. "By lifting themselves and their partners with telepathy, they can render attacks from the ground completely harmless.

"Nicely done, Solaris!" Wes shouted. "Now, Bagun! That Yanmega is still a problem, so let's see what we can do to clip her wings! Use swift!"

"Typhlosion!" Bagun roared, sending a wave of stars flying towards Megan. They would follow her no matter where she tried to fly, so she didn't even make an attempt to dodge. Rather she focused on fighting back.

"Yanmega!" Megan flapped her wings, creating blades of wind that crashed into the stars, slicing through them. She took advantage of her speed, summoning more and more air blades until she had sliced through every star coming her way.

"Whoa! That's so cool!" Lila gushed.

"Nice work, Megan," Kanone nodded. "Now, let's see about dealing with that barrier!"

"Yanmega!" Megan sent an even larger blade of air flying towards Bagun. The air slash hit the light screen head-on, but unfortunately dispersed, leaving minimal damage.

"Well, so much for that," he sighed. "I suppose that means we'll have to go all-in on brick break, huh, Phoenix?"

"Blaziken," Phoenix nodded. He ran towards Bagun and Solaris and raised his fist, but immediately everyone could see that this wasn't a winning strategy. After all, at his current pace, he was barely at the normal speed for a Blaziken, meaning both pokemon could attack with impunity.

"Psychic!" Wes snarled.

"Espeon!" Solaris began to glow, and a red aura formed around Phoenix for a moment. But then Phoenix found himself flung forward, startling the Espeon.

"Thanks for the assist, Megan!" Kanone said, nodding to his Yanmega. A powerful gust of wind carried over on their side of the field.

"He used tailwind!" Vic said. "Nice thinking! With the wind on his side, Blaziken's speed gets a massive boost!"

Now things were cooking. Phoenix could run much faster than before, and closed the distance between himself and Bagun in seconds. He raised his fist and swung with all his might, striking the reflect and smashing through it with one punch.

"TYPHLOSION!" Bagun roared in pain as the brick break smashed into his chest. He rolled backwards and landed in the grass, badly injured. The brick break was a critical hit!

"Get back!" Wes shouted, ignoring the pain in his ribs. He gave all his power to Solaris and she turned on the Blaziken, firing a blast of psychic energy his way. Phoenix jumped to the side to evade the attack, and that left Solaris vulnerable to another strike from Megan.

"YANMEGA!" Another piercing shriek filled the battlefield and Solaris faltered, succumbing to the effects of the bug buzz. Wes could barely hear himself think with all the noise.

So it was a good thing that Samarra was there to pick up the slack. She focused her power and connected with Wes, overwriting his pain and that of his pokemon as well. Which was enough to spur Bagun into standing back up.

The Typhlosion was glowing red. His Blaze ability had been triggered, and that meant that his Fire type moves were going to receive a massive boost.

"Bagun!" Wes shouted with a voice that wasn't quite his. He didn't need to say a word beyond that, because his Typhlosion could already sense what his trainer wanted.

The air around the battlefield began to heat up, and images began to shimmer in the sky. It was like the atmosphere was starting to burn. With a roar, the flames on Bagun's collar increased in intensity, blending with the red aura that surrounded him until it was impossible to see where the Typhlosion ended and the flames began. With a roar Bagun sent a wave of boiling heat across the battlefield, using heat wave on his foes.

Megan was fast, there was no denying that. And even with his speed reduced by paralysis, Phoenix was pretty quick too, thanks to the tailwind.

But no matter where you tried to run, there was no point if the entire atmosphere was on fire, and that was what it felt like. Kanone wiped the sweat from his forehead as he saw throbs of orange and red pulse through the sky, twisting into a mirage as a result of the incoming inferno.

"YANMEGA!" Megan screamed as her body began to burn. Bagun's heat wave was boosted by calm mind as well as his Blaze ability, and Megan wasn't the most resilient pokemon out there.

"Come on, hold on," Kanone winced, withstanding the heat as best as he could. He focused all of his harmonia on his pokemon, trying to give them the defense boost they needed to withstand the attack. He'd hoped that the backdraft from the tailwind would help stymie some of the power, but it was like trying to beat back a tornado with a space fan.

Sooner or later, something would have to give, and what gave was Megan's health. Unable to withstand the heat any longer the Yanmega crumpled to the ground. Phoenix would have been right there with her if not for her natural resistance to Fire type attacks.

"…It's okay, Megan," Kanone said, calling back his Yanmega as the air cooled down. He glanced at Phoenix, and could see that his Blaziken was in pretty bad shape as well. He took a deep breath and exhaled.

"We can do this. Don't worry."

He still had more trump cards to play.

Kanone raised his head to look Wes in the eye, and the trainer flinched. Because Samarra only had her connection with Wes at this point, she knew very little about what Kanone was actually capable of. Even the memories she retained from Ayame didn't paint a full picture because the tomboy had very little contact with her boyfriend's brother.

So the power of this next pokemon would come as a bit of a surprise to both of them.

"It's time to start taking this seriously," Kanone said, all traces of affability gone from his face. His hair began to stand on end as he submerged himself fully in his harmonia. "Komei, rip them apart!"

Kanone flung his pokeball into the air, and the large, armored pokemon within emerged with a fearsome roar.

"KOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOO!" Komei roared, landing on the ground. His scales were shaking in resonance with his trainer's harmonia, filling the air with a clanging sound that shook the entire battlefield. Wes winced. He could tell that this pokemon was different from the others so far, just at a glance. Kanone's pokemon were powerful, no one could deny that. His Blaziken was as tough as advertised, and his Yanmega, Skarmory, and Klefki all had their own advantages. Wes hadn't seen his fabled Samurott yet, but he knew that pokemon would be one of his best.

And this pokemon? This Kommo-o?

It was the stuff nightmares were made of.

"Now that's what we've been waiting for," Tommy grinned, punching the air in triumph.

"You can say that again," Raizer agreed. "A real beast of a pokemon like that's got me all charged up and ready to fight!"

Rui felt a surge of relief, seeing the armored dragon take to the field. He reminded her of Wes's Tyranitar, a pokemon with incredible power that was absolutely sure of its own ability. Kanone might have been behind in number of pokemon, but she was confident that with this beast at his side, he'd be able to turn the tide.

Wes felt the same way, unfortunately.

"Solaris, we need to deal with that, now!" He ordered his Espeon. "Use psychic!"

"Espeon!" Solaris nodded, focusing her psychic powers to take down the Kommo-o. But she wouldn't get a chance.

"Blaziken!" In a flash, Phoenix appeared in front of her, lifting his leg. He swiped his foot and hit her in the face, knocking her onto her side with a quick attack. Wes scowled. Phoenix may have been paralyzed, but he could still move faster than ever with a quick attack! Fortunately, he wasn't the only pokemon who could do that.

"Typhlosion!" Bagun came up behind Phoenix and pounced, striking the other Fire type with a quick attack of his own to get him to back off of Solaris. Phoenix obliged, leaping back and taking up a fighting stance.

But all Kanone had been hoping for was a mild distraction, so he'd have the time to fully synchronize with Komei.

"Scale shot," he ordered.

"Kommo-o!" The scales on Komei's body began to rattle, and they tore themselves free, hovering in the air around him. With a swing of his fist he sent the scales flying towards his opponents like razor blades, whirling through the sky.

The first target was Solaris. The round scales cut into her from all sides as she tried to stand up, forcing her to use quick attack to dodge them. But she'd already taken some serious injuries from the attack, and it had placed her on the defensive. The ruby on her forehead began to glow, and the sunlight grew strong overhead.

"Morning sun," Wes ordered. Solaris needed to recover her health if she wanted to stand a chance. Thankfully there was a good deal of distance between the two pokemon, and Solaris was very fast on her feet.

Then Komei took a step forward, and Wes immediately realized that this was a much different game than he'd thought.

"Look at how fast that thing can move!" Lila said, her jaw dropping in shock. She whirled to look at Darla. "How fast are… what's it called again? Kommo-o?"

"They're not that fast," Darla said. "In fact, they're on the slower side when it comes to Dragon type pokemon in their power bracket."

"It's the tailwind, then, right?" Lila asked. It was the only reason she had to make sense of how fast that Kommo-o was catching up to Solaris without the aid of a single dragon dance.

"That's part of it," Darla nodded, "but the other part is that move he just used, scale shot."

"What about it?" Lila asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Well, think about it this way," Darla began her explanation. "Kommo-o aren't that fast because they have really bulky armor. Their hard scales make it difficult for them to move at speeds comparable to other Dragon type pokemon of the same level. And that's why Kanone had it use scale shot! By shedding the excess scales on his body the Kommo-o's defense is reduced, yes, but his speed has also increased considerably!"

Her eyes were shining with excitement. "It's a really good strategy on his part! I wouldn't expect anything less from a trainer of Kanone's caliber."

Lila tried to keep the sourness out of her face. "…Yay."

Darla was just playing a part, of course, and on some level Lila knew that. But she wasn't exactly thrilled at her partner gushing over someone else, much less a boy.

That sentiment was a common one among blondes in the Appeals Course.

"Nicely done," Alcea nodded, a smile touching her lips as she saw the Kommo-o finally catch up to the Espeon. "Kanone's pokemon are quite powerful, is it?"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it!" Olivia grumbled, pouting. "He's a strong trainer. You know, you don't have to fawn over him all the time!"

Alcea held back her laughter. Seeing Kanone was still painful for her given what had happened the last time they'd spoken, but having Olivia here and seeing how childishly jealous she got was doing wonders to soothe her pain.

"Solaris!" Wes shouted at Komei's claw came down upon the Espeon, knocking her into the air. Solaris crashed into Bagun and the two pokemon stumbled back, making them the perfect target.

"Now we're talking," Kanone said, focusing his harmonia. He directed all of his power towards Komei, focusing everything he had. His hair stood up on end and for a second it looked like the air around him was burning.

Komei let out a roar, and the scales on his body began to shake.

"Clanging scales!" Kanone shouted. The ringing of Komei's scales reached a fever pitch, and the shockwave of sound raging around him made bug buzz seem like the annoying hum your refrigerator made when you left the door open. Komei concentrated the sound and directed it forward with a massive roar, sending out a sonic shockwave that mowed down everything in its path. The chunks of cooled lava still remaining on the battlefield? Shattered to dust. The river? Completely disrupted, the water actually parted to make way for the sound wave.

And as for Solaris and Bagun, they were in no condition to withstand such a fearsome attack. The shockwave of sound deafened them, and sent them flying through the air. It was shocking, seeing a pokemon being lifted off the ground from simple sound, and it happened twice. Both pokemon crashed to the ground in front of Wes, but he didn't pay it any mind. The sound had gotten to him as well, and he was too busy trying to maintain consciousness to pay attention to his defeated pokemon.

But the important thing was Kanone had evened up the score in one stroke, both trainers had only three pokemon remaining.

Alright, now THAT'S what I call a comeback! Kanone was able to pull out his trump card, his Kommo-o, and defeat two of Wes's pokemon with clanging scales! We never should have doubted him, he always had this in the bag! But the fight's not over yet. Wes still has three pokemon left, and Kanone's Blaziken is in pretty bad shape. He regained some ground, but Wes is still leading I'd say.