Things aren't looking good for Kanone. Wes and his Tyranitar have decimated his team, leaving him with one pokemon left. And we all know who that last pokemon is going to be, so no point pretending otherwise. The only question remaining is whether or not Sammy will be enough to defeat this monster of a Tyranitar, or if even she will fall against his might. Let's see!

KedharS: This is quite a problem. Things aren't going to go well, that's for sure.

Guest: Yeah. These two pokemon are incredibly powerful. Seeing the two of them exchanging blows, it's going to be rough.

Tambry96bj: Very little contact is ever good for Gwen.

Venoms Cross 2: Yeah it's definitely a bad situation. Their family drama is problematic.

Hyphenman: Wes's Tyranitar is one of the strongest pokemon we've seen. It's definitely going to be an issue, and I for one am looking forward to how it goes.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1227

Kanone sucked in air through his teeth and felt the feeling slowly return to his body.

That Tyranitar… it's amazing. He was actually sweating, and that was something he never did. He couldn't stop the wild smile inching its way up his lips.

This is the kind of battle I couldn't find on the pro circuit. The type of challenge that isn't for sanitized environments and tournaments. This is a real battle… with a real opponent. He began to shake. I wonder… when was the last time I felt pushed to this level?

It had been too long.

Another trainer might baulk against a pokemon as powerful as the Tyranitar standing in front of him. But Kanone wasn't any ordinary trainer. He was a man who had challenged himself to the furthest extent possible in the hopes of getting stronger.

"Your pokemon are incredibly powerful," Kanone said, recalling Phoenix and Komei to their pokeballs. Neither one had been able to withstand the Tyranitar's earthquake. Wes did the same with his Meganium. The only pokemon still standing was the Tyranitar.

"You can say that again…" Lila whimpered. She was fighting the urge to break out crying with everything she had, knowing that her life would basically be over if someone saw her leaking snot out of her nose. This was horrible! Who in their right mind had a pokemon that strong?!

"Wes's Tyranitar is a monster," Alden said quietly. "It's got incredible power. It was even able to defeat Corin. A pokemon of that level…"

Alden's words carried weight with everyone there. Those who had witnessed the fight between him and Wes firsthand knew what he was talking about. And those who hadn't still knew just how powerful the Commander's Lucario was. Corin was Alden's champion pokemon, the lynchpin of his team, a pokemon with incredible power capable of going toe to toe with the strongest pokemon this school had to offer. To say she was capable of defeating entire teams all on her own wouldn't be an exaggeration.

And Kanone had to defeat a Tyranitar that could beat her?

The armored pokemon had taken some serious blows from Komei. And yet you wouldn't be able to tell it by looking at him.

Sure, Giraud's scaly hide was dented in some places, and definitely showed the wear of facing off against a strong foe. But if you were looking at his eyes, you wouldn't see a trace of that in his glare. On a mental level he was 100%, and when it came to a pokemon aided by harmonia, it could be argued that was more important.

Not one trainer here thought they were capable in that moment of defeating Wes's Tyranitar. Not Alden, the strongest trainer in school. Not Vic, his daughter, who knew his fighting style by heart. Not Alcea, whose team of Grass types had a type advantage. Not Ange, who had traveled across time and space to another era and survived the harshness of the wilds of Hisui. Not Mirar, who prided himself on mimicking his foes completely and seldom lost in a one on one exchange. Not Marion, whose fishy friends saw great power through aid of her harmonia. And not even Raizer, who Mythical Pokemon was an absolute beast of destruction.

Every last one of them knew that if they faced off against that Tyranitar, it was the Tyranitar that would emerge the victor.

So why did it seem like Kanone wasn't bothered? How was he able to hold his head up with such confidence, even in the face of such overwhelming power?

"That Tyranitar is strong," Ian admitted. "But Kanone Harker… he's pretty strong too, don't you guys think?"

"Oui," Alcea nodded. "Kanone is the most powerful trainer I've ever met. If it's someone of his level… defeating Wes and his Tyranitar should be possible, is it?"

"I hate to admit it, but you've got a point," Olivia mumbled. Even she couldn't deny the connection between Kanone and her idol Cynthia, not after seeing him fight with that Kommo-o of his. It was like seeing the former champion's Garchomp in action again.

"Y-You can do it, Kanone!" Lila led the cheer, regaining the sensation in her legs. Although it made her nauseous to be rooting for a guy who Darla clearly had a thing for (*she didn't) she would still give her all into cheering him on, like an idol should.

"That's right!" Darla shouted, punching the air in a mirror of her partner standing beside her. "Just because you're down to your last pokemon, that doesn't mean you've lost!"

"Do your best!" Rui called. "Wes… he needs someone to show him the light!"

"That's right, my dad's strong, but even you can beat him! He's not invincible!" Vic cried. She had to believe that Wes could lose. Even if she'd never seen it happen before.

"Yeah, you heard them!" Raizer roared, slapping his hands together in applause. "Show that guy what you're made of!"

"Read the room," Willa said, elbowing him in the leg. "This is the point where only the cute girls cheer him on."

Raizer jammed his foot into her back in response. Oooh, she'd get him for that the second the feeling returned to her legs!

"It's simply a matter of course." Rin, usually so taciturn, pushed her glasses up her nose. Kanone's attendant had barely said a word this entire fight, causing some to completely forget her presence. But she'd been here the entire time regardless, silently supporting him with everything she had. And because she knew him better than anyone, she knew just what he was capable of, and why he wasn't out of this fight just because he'd lost so many pokemon.

"Kanone will win. I guarantee it."

"Well, it's certainly nice to feel so supported," Kanone said, flashing a smile at Wes. But he looked past him, staring directly at Samarra. "I understand why you're desperately chasing that bond, Sammy, really I do. That feeling of other people supporting you is intoxicating, isn't it?"

Samarra flinched, her face clouding over. She didn't like how easily her brother could always see through her. It wasn't supposed to be that way. She was above other people, after all, someone as stupid as him, lacking in her genius… he shouldn't be able to understand the first thing about her. After all, they weren't friends. The two of them had never shared a connection, and they never would. That alone was enough to build her wrath up inside her.

She screamed.

"Wes! Tear him apart!" She was done with pokemon battling at this point. If Kanone wasn't going to send out his trump card, then she'd just have Wes and his Tyranitar flatten them into paste and use his remains for fertilizer!

"Tyranitar!" Giraud lumbered forward. Wes would never give an order under ordinary circumstances, but he couldn't stop it at this point.

Luckily, he didn't need to command Giraud to attack another human being. Kanone reached to his belt, and removed his pokeball with a smile.

"This is it, where we've trained to get to," he whispered to the pokeball. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again, this is the time we surpass our limits, reach the point beyond what we think is possible!" He flung the pokeball into the air.

"Samurott!" Kanone's ace emerged from her pokeball with a roar, landing in the grass. Samarra's expression soured when she saw it.

"This is Sammy! My new pokemon!"

"…You named your starter after that ridiculous nickname you gave me? Are you completely lacking in sense?"

"…Well, I mean… you're always off doing your own thing in your head, so I guess… this way, it's like you're with me if I go out on a journey, right? Since you always stay home anyway."

"There's nothing for me beyond these walls. This world is far too constrained, where would I even have to go?"

"…Sammy you say some really weird stuff for a first grader."

Just remembering that exchange put a foul taste in her mouth. Even after all these years, he was still clinging to that Samurott. It made her sick.

That tomboy's memories are less cloying than that, somehow, and just thinking about her makes me want to empty my stomach all over this field. Disgusting…

But there wasn't much she could do about it. Like it or not, Kanone had chosen his final pokemon. The only thing left to do now was destroy him and that annoying Samurott of his. Once that was accomplished, she could return to her paradise.

"Sammy!" Kanone shouted. "Let's start things off easy! Water pulse!"

"Samurott!" Sammy grasped her shell blades in her hands, drawing one of her swords and swinging it sharply. Water surged across the blade and released in a wave of water that hit Giraud head on, causing him to roar.

Samarra clutched her chest. That… that was a water pulse? It felt like a sword slicing through me! …W-Wait… why am I feeling the force of those attacks?

Samarra had never been in a pokemon battle before. She'd never even been adjacent to a pokemon battle before today.

When she used her harmonia, she connected to other people, and had them to the fighting for her. They would take the brunt of the attacks, injuring themselves and their pokemon in the process, and she would use her harmonia to restrain the pain they endured. It was a method that worked perfectly fine and ensured that she could win against any foe without the slightest hint of inconvenience to her own body.

And Kanone had just about sliced her in half with that stroke.

She clenched her jaw to keep from screaming out in pain. This was like before, with Maddi, where the spunky girl had smashed Samarra's nose. But how… how was she feeling this pain?! It didn't make any sense!

"What did you do!?" She roared, her eyes flashing furiously as she glared at Kanone. Her brother seemed rather unbothered by her outburst.

"What do you mean?" He asked nonchalantly. Then he narrowed his eyes. "You didn't happen to feel something from that last attack, did you?"

She flinched. There it was, all the confirmation she needed that Kanone was the one responsible for the sensation she'd felt.

"What did you do?!" She growled again, glaring bloody murder at him. But Kanone wasn't intimidated. The only damage Samarra could do to him was through her "friends", or, a more accurate way of putting it, her slaves.

With Sammy at his side, though, there was nothing she could do.

"I'm fighting all out," Kanone replied. His harmonia was practically an aura around him, and anyone who shared their gift was able to see it, Wes included.

He smiled in spite of himself. "You really live up to your reputation," he breathed. "To have a chance of fighting against a trainer like you… no, to have the opportunity of defeating you… it would be my greatest pleasure!"

"Tyranitar!" Giraud roared with agreement, and dark energy began to swirl around his body. He released it in a blast of darkness.

"A dark pulse, huh? Well, we'll take that just fine!" Kanone smirked. "Sammy! You know what to do, right?"

"Samurott," Sammy snorted, as if trying to say "do you even have to ask?" She reared up on her hind legs to give herself some more balance with her swords and then drew both blades, lifting them up and crossing them together in an "X" shape.

The dark pulse landed smack in the intersection point between the two swords. In spite of Kanone's boasts, the move was powerful. Sammy was forced back by the impact, but that was all. Just forced back. She kept her feet planted firmly in the grass even as she was inched backwards, and refused to uncross her swords, keeping them focused together at one point to deflect as much of the dark pulse attack as possible.

When Giraud's attack reached its conclusion and began to taper off, that's when she struck.

"Samurott!" Sammy snarled, breaking the lock on her swords with an outward slash, splitting the dark pulse to pieces as she forced her attack through. She charged forward and slashed into Giraud, hitting him with both swords this time.

"Tyranitar!" Giraud roared in pain. Wes doubled over and Samarra went with him, screaming out as she clutched her chest.

"Revenge doubles in power after being hit by an attack," Kanone said, narrowing his eyes. "And that's not all we're capable of! Go, Sammy, follow it up with razor shell!"

"Samurott!" Sammy twisted one of her swords and water danced along the blade, swirling in a whirlpool as she brought it down upon Giraud in a second attack.

"One's all you get!" Wes snarled. Sand burst out of the holes in Giraud's scales, swirling out in a miniature sandstorm. The rotation of the sand moved directly opposite the rotation of the water along Sammy's blade, canceling the attack out completely. It was as if a regular shell struck Giraud's hardened body.

The was all the opportunity the behemoth needed for his counter attack.

"Tyranitar!" Giraud brought his fist up into Sammy's stomach. The pokemon may have had small arms, but the amount of power he could put behind them was nothing to sneeze at. He hit Sammy with everything he had, knocking the Samurott into the air.

"Urgh," Kanone grunted, clutching his own stomach. Fortunately he was able to remain in control, concentrating his harmonia help Sammy endure the hit. His Samurott tumbled through the air and touched down on the ground, panting, raising her shell swords and pointing them towards her opponent.

She smiled.

"Sammy says it's going to take a lot more than that to take her down," Kanone said. "And I tend to agree with her."

"Yeah, now that's what I'm talking about!" Tommy grinned.

"It's a picture perfect scene," Donoma said, making a camera with her fingers. "I can just picture it now, the champ, on his last legs, finds the strength from within to overcome the hulking monster that is Tyranitar, and takes it down with the power of his bond with his pokemon, thus rescuing the damsel in distress from his wicked foe!"

Chloe blinked. "Hey, um… but isn't Samarra the bad one here? Kanone is trying to save Wes, not the other way around."

"Eh, details, details," Donoma whiffed, waving her hand back and forth. "What I just described is peak television you know!"

"Well, leaving aside the new pilot idea for now, I think you'll see that Sammy and I have much more up our sleeves," Kanone said, glancing knowingly at Donoma. She blushed a little in spite of herself, while mentally kicking her foot to keep from getting all fluttery. SHE was the one who was supposed to be appealing to guys, not the other way around!

"You're not the only one with tricks of his own," Wes reminded him. "Or did you already forget just what it was that defeated your two pokemon? Giraud!"

"TYRANITAAAAAR!" Giraud roared, stomping furiously on the ground. Agate Village began to shake dangerously.

"Not good! It's another tremor!" Amarillo shouted.

"It's earthquake again!" Lila wailed, trying to regain her balance. She did NOT need to faceplant in the mud, not after the day she'd had today.

"I didn't forget at all," Kanone assured Wes with a smile. "Sammy and I know just how dangerous your Tyranitar's earthquakes are. Right, Sammy?"

"Samurott!" Sammy nodded. She charged at Giraud, and to everyone's amazement, she was so nimble on her feet that she was able to resist the shaking completely.

"Ah, using detect," Wes recognized. "A much more useful move than protect, since it allows you to get closer to your foe and maintain your mobility while still dodging the enemy's attacks… But at the same time, it requires quite a bit more skill to master!"

"That's what makes it such a good move," Alden said proudly, thinking about how skilled Corin was at dodging her foes.

"You're right about that," Kanone nodded. "Sammy and I have plenty of skill, especially when it comes to fighting foes like you!"

Sammy leapt from the ground and held her sword up high. The blade was sharp. Was she using brick break next? Or another razor shell?

Well, whatever it was, it had little effect. Because when Sammy brought her sword down upon Giraud's head, the blade stopped in its tracks when it hit the Tyranitar's hard skull.

Sammy blinked, stunned, not able to react fast enough to Giraud whipping his tail around and catching her in the stomach, knocking her backwards.

Fortunately, Sammy landed on her feet. But it didn't go unnoticed how little damage she'd managed to inflict on that Tyranitar.

"No fair!" Giselle grumbled. "That move was super-effective, right? It should have done a ton of damage, but the Tyranitar looks perfectly fine!"

"It was probably brick break," Tommy guessed. "No idea how a Tyranitar is able to tank a move like that, though."

"He was able to 'tank it' because he's just that strong," Alden said grimly. "It's as simple as that, unfortunately."

"Not wrong," Vic said, shaking her head. "Just look. Dad hardened Giraud up with another iron defense. Not even Kanone's Samurott could land a scratch."

Sammy studied her sword momentarily. Thankfully the blade wasn't cracked or chipped, that would have been bad.

Normally, her strategy for taking down a pokemon as cumbersome as this foe would be to wear them down gradually, using their shell blades to score cut after cut while remaining out of the attacking range, and let the pokemon eventually succumb to its injuries.

Neither possibility seemed feasible at the moment. The Tyranitar's scaly hide was too thick to be cut through with conventional means. And even if she could, Giraud had proven himself capable more than once to attack in retaliation against an attack aimed his way, even if the pokemon was faster like Komei or Sammy.

Kanone and Sammy's thoughts were linked due to their connection from harmonia. Because of that, both trainer and pokemon could see what the other was thinking.

"Is it time?" Sammy didn't exactly ask those words. After all, as smart as she was, she had no capacity for speaking. But even without asking the question directly, the meaning of what she was trying to ask carried through.

But what she wanted was completely out of the question.

Kanone shook his head.

"Not now. We have to save that. Once we use that technique, that's it. No going back. We need to keep it for our trump card. You know that."

Sammy agreed with her trainer of course. She just needed to be sure. She nodded and returned her focus to the battle. As it stood, without her trump card, there was only so much she could do to defeat the opponent in front of her.

Luckily, she was very good at transcending over obstacles and finding a way to victory.

It's come down to this. Kanone vs. Wes, both trainers using their strongest pokemon. Kanone's ace Samurott has stepped onto the field, with a secret weapon in toe. But one she's forbidden from using. And what about Wes's monster of a Tyranitar? Can that fearsome pokemon even be beaten in the first place? The battle has come to the climax, and we move forward to see how it all shakes out.