The Orre Region arc has reached the end. With Samarra and Gwen escaping, things will start winding down as we examine the aftermath of Samarra's attack, and all the damage she managed to inflict on everyone. We've been here for over a year at this point and things have been very intense; so intense that it's gonna feel strange when we finally return to the Pokemon Academy! But we'll have to tie up all the other loose ends first!

KedharS: Yep. Roaring Moon is a bit of a monster!

Guest: Something like that, yeah. And yep, this arc was pretty traumatic for both Gwen and Kanone, their family always has it rough.

Hyphenman: Yeah. Val is pretty horrible. She's just so evil it's not even that fun. She just spreads misery and pain for no reason other than her sick desires.

Gyvarius: Oh, it was the real ending alright.

Bad Writer: Yeah, I miss when times were simpler and the students actually did classwork. Good times, good times…

Tambry96bj: Yeah, it was pretty tragic. He tried so hard to save them both, and ended up losing both of them.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1237

Kanone stood in the clearing, staring numbly at the empty spot of air where his sisters had been standing just seconds ago.

He fell to his knees and screamed, pounding his fists against the grass.

"WHY?!" He roared at the heavens. "I was SO CLOSE! She was THERE! She was right there!"

It was horrible. It was an unmitigated disaster. Gwen was gone, escaped with the other Children of the Oracles to parts unknown. And if that wasn't bad enough, Samarra had vanished as well. The consequences of that were something he didn't even want to THINK about.

Gwen escaping… that's one thing. I know that's just how my luck turns out. But Sammy… of the two sisters who had vanished, one was much more dangerous than the other. Gwen had been on the run for years, and while he'd heard stories about her actions, her sins couldn't compare to what his other sister was capable of if she were left to her own devices.

"Kanone."

"…What do you want, Rin?" He muttered, glancing up at the redhead standing over him with a stern expression on her face. No consideration for his loss there at all, how fitting for her. It almost brought a smile to his own lips.

"Your sisters are gone. But it's not the end," Rin calmly reminded him. "You'll just have to resume the search again. After all, it wasn't even for Guinevere's sake that you came this far, isn't that right?"

She made a good point. He'd come here for Samarra. Gwen being here just happened to be a shocking coincidence.

Still…

"Now I have neither of them," he spat, rising to his feet and turning towards his friend. "THEY have both my sisters now, and with that power of hers…"

It was the worst thing Kanone could imagine. He'd reached Samarra when she was pressed to the limit of her abilities, with hardly any friends to rely on. But now she had time to grow and expand her power base. Even just a few days of freedom could be catastrophic. Entire countries could fall to her harmonia. He'd needed to stop her here… and he'd failed.

"They were here for her, you know?" He muttered, shaking his head. "That's what that blonde said, that they'd 'gotten what they came here for'. Well… now they have her. What a mess."

"It might not be as big of an issue as you're making it out to be," Rin said, lowering her voice into a whisper so the others couldn't hear. Fortunately, they were too busy rushing people into the Pokemon Center to pay attention to what Kanone was doing at the moment.

"What do you mean?" Kanone asked, confused.

"I think you're overreacting," Rin clarified. "Samarra's gifts make her powerful, you're not wrong about that. But I don't think that the Children of the Oracles are going to be foolish enough to just let her go free, or touch anyone. They know about her powers, what she's capable of. If they give her leeway to use them, then she'll end up taking over their entire organization, and I don't think Shaw is the kind of man who would be willing to take that chance."

Kanone considered her perspective. It had merit.

"You raise a good point," he admitted. "If my sister were allowed to roam free, or have access to her powers at all, then she'd just do what she tried to do here, turn the Children of the Oracles into her new army."

With that in mind, he felt a little safer- but just a little. Whatever the Children of the Oracles wanted with Samarra, he doubted it was just to lock her in some cell.

"I demand that you let me out of here at once!" Samarra shouted, pounding her fist against the wall of her cell. "Who do you think you are, imprisoning me like this?!"

She had only been locked up for a period of 2 hours and 37 minutes. But it felt like a lifetime. Long enough to regain her bearings after the mess that had occurred in Agate Village. Captivity of any sort was torture to her, a far greater torture than the one she'd been inflicted with.

The memories of Ayame Toujou.

They were inside her now, rattling around in her skull. The bond between Ayame and her boyfriend. Their love and tenderness, the moments they'd shared together, everything Samarra could keep her grip on.

In short, none of the useful skills, like the fighting prowess necessary to overpower her guards and escape.

She was a captive again. At least in her previous cell, she'd had a clear wall to observe the visitors through, even if it was only her brother. This was… well, frankly, it was a dungeon, with four stone walls and a ceiling that was so high above her head she couldn't see it. No windows, not even one on the door, no way of seeing the world that lie past her cage.

At least they'd not bound her. How charitable of them. She was free to explore her empty cell, devoid of beds, tables, even a chair. As bleak and empty as her prospect of escape.

So this is what is to become of me, she thought, staring at the only thing of importance in the room, its exit. Trapped in this prison until I starve.

They'd taken everything from her. Stripped her of her clothes (though those had been stained with urine) and sprayed with water until she was clean, like some feral pokemon. Now clad in just a bathrobe, she wondered- what the hell was even the point? If she was just supposed to rot away, why clean her at all?

Then pain touched her skull. She didn't even twitch. The pain from harmonia was a fond, nostalgic sensation.

So it appears I have a visitor. Samarra felt her presence before she even reached the door. As the knob began to turn, she braced herself, feeling her harmonia flow through her. She'd befriend whoever came to greet her, and from there-

"Howdy! Settling in okay?" A chipper voice called out as the door swung open. A rusty-haired girl with a freckled face and a big smile strolled into the cell without a trace of caution, catching Samarra off guard momentarily.

Then she exploded forward, hands outstretched. When she touched this girl, then she would-

"Alley-oop!" Suddenly the redhead disappeared from sight. Samarra's eyes shot down to see that she'd cartwheeled down, pressing both palms against the stone floor, flipped forward. The girl's foot came right for Samarra's face. Samarra had just enough time to note she was barefoot before feeling the redhead's heel slam into her forehead, dazing her.

The slender girl pushed off the floor, flipping back and out of Samarra's grasp as she swung blindly at her. It was like trying to grab a Mankey hopped up on caffeine! She lunged at the girl again and the girl sank to the floor again, but this time Samarra was ready for that. She aimed her hands downward, towards the other girl's throat, only to feel two strong legs wrap around her waist.

"Wugh-ah!" Samarra tried to grab the girl's legs, but before she could, she felt her body pitching forward. Unused to moving strenuously due to her years of captivity and having taken none of Ayame's coordination or athletic ability she made a complete fool of herself, overextending her lunge and giving the other girl all the momentum she needed to flip her forward, hitting her head violently against the stone floor.

Her head was spinning and she saw red.

"Uwagh! Oh no, oh no no no! I'm so sorry!" The redhead wailed. "I just got a little excited there, and they said I wasn't supposed to let you touch me, and- oof, that looked hard…"

"I'm fine," Samarra muttered, reaching up to the girl. "Help me up?"

She was a fool. That was plain to see. The sort of fool who could easily be convinced to-

"Nope! You're fine there!"

Before Samarra could react her, nimble jailor moved with speed like a pokemon, grabbing her wrist and twisting it backwards. Her hand flailed, trying to make purchase on something, and she felt the girl grab her other hand as well. The short-haired girl plopped down on Samarra's back, surprisingly heavy for her slender frame, and held her arms behind her like she was hogtying the woman.

"There we go! All nice and controlled!" The redhead's chipper attitude never seemed to waver. Samarra struggled to free herself, struggled to get her fingers close to even brush against her foe, but the girl's hands were like an iron vise on her wrists. She was trapped.

"Now, can we please behave?" She begged. "I like to wrestle as much as any gal, but you're pinned now. So it's over."

Samarra would have to be a fool to deny that. Whoever this girl was, she was strong, and Samarra had spent most of her adult life tied to a chair. What little strength she had couldn't even give the other girl a good workout.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Samarra growled.

"Because you came at me all grabby, duh! That's not good. They said that if I let you touch me, some really bad stuff would happen. And bad stuff is bad."

Samarra could tell there was only one way she had of getting free, and it wasn't by wrestling the ape on top of her. The door was wide open, she just had to get to it. And the quickest way of doing that was outthinking this redhead.

A small smile crossed her lips.

That was something she could do quite easily.

"I apologize," Samarra said. "I reacted so harshly because you see… I don't take well to being locked up in a cell. My older brother kept me in his dungeon for years, and well… I'd finally managed to escape, when I found myself in here. I thought that you'd… that you were with him, come to torture me again… I apologize that I reacted so violently."

The girl gasped. "Oh, no! That sounds awful!"

"Yes, it was very awful. But I promise if you let me go, I won't attack you again. I'm not trying to hurt anybody, I just… I need a friend."

"Oh, that's fine! I'll be happy to be your friend!" The redhead chirped. "Only thing… you're really kinda bad at lying, you know?"

"…What?"

"Well, like… your voice didn't change. At all. The whole darn time! It was like talking with a computer! I didn't really FEEL it, ya know?"

Samarra could scream. Emoting. She'd completely forgotten. Which one was she supposed to use again to get people to do what she wanted?

Immediately she burst into tears.

"…Not gonna wooooork~" The redhead sang. "I know Preya and the others think I'm a big dumb dummy, but I'm actually VERY smart, you know that? My IQ is a 78, and that's a C+!"

Samarra wanted to scream. Beaten by a simpleton.

"Release me," she snarled.

"Are you gonna do bad stuff?"

"No."

"I don't believe you though."

This girl…

"I refuse to be kept prisoner!" Samarra screamed. "Free! I deserve to be free! Don't you understand that, you fool?! My brilliance is far too grand to be contained to some cell! I deserve… no, I don't just deserve! It is my duty to guide the world to its future!"

"Oh, well, when you put it like that… no."

"AAARGH!" Samarra thrashed against the girl straddling her, trying to shake her off. But she was just too weak. All she could do was bash herself near-bloody against the cobblestones of her cell.

"Hey, you're gonna hurt yourself!" The redhead frowned.

"If my choice is between death, and an eternity in this cell, then I choose death," Samarra spat. "It will not be held prisoner again, do you understand me?!"

"Jeesh I just came to get you for DINNER why are you such a Crazy Cassie?!" She groaned.

Samarra stopped struggling.

"What did you say?"

"Dinner? That's the word, right? You know, eating food? Or is that lunch? Okay, it's one of 'em, but I can't always remember which one…"

Samarra was beyond confused. She would… be allowed to leave this cell? She wasn't being held prisoner?

Immediately her brain began working out the possibilities of what she was dealing with here. She'd been locked up, but would now be allowed to go free. In that case, why lock her up at all? What was she being prepared for?

She didn't know. Any speculation on that subject would be too broad. Next question.

Who was keeping her prisoner? That one was easier to answer. The blonde boy had brought her to this place, and he worked with her sister and the other girl, the one with the monster. They were her captors, and this girl was with them as well. Next question.

What did they want from her? They had sought her out for a reason. A much trickier question. She had thought it was to imprison her just as her brother had, but now she learned they were letting her go. Perhaps they wanted to make use of her powers? That may have been the reason they had taken her sister as well. She couldn't speculate beyond that. Next question.

How could she turn this to her advantage?

A smile touched her lips.

Somehow, she vowed, I will turn these fools into my friends. Even this girl. Her brain is worthless, but physically… yes, she'll make a very reliable friend indeed.

"Kat, what's taking so- what are you doing?!"

Ah, so her name was Kat.

Samarra glanced up to see a girl with wavy blonde hair wearing a fancy pink dress. Her amber eyes were twisted with shock and confusion.

"Sorry Flora!" The girl on top of her said sheepishly. "But she was doing the hand thing, you know, the one that you guys warned me about? So I had to hold her down."

Flora frowned, calming herself down. "Kat, that's because you ran ahead of me. I told you we would be coming here together, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but I wanted to see her! We don't get new faces very often! And she wants to be our friend, she said so!"

Flora shook her head and sighed. "Kat… what have I told you about trusting strangers?"

"Um… that just because they say they have candy, that doesn't mean I should just believe them?" Kat said, scrunching her face up thoughtfully.

Flora sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Samarra could tell that at least this girl had enough wits about her to engage in some form of civil conversation.

"She said you would let me go," Samarra said quietly. "Will you do that?"

"…Provisionally," Flora said, nodding. "But I'm afraid it's a little complicated. You see, we're well aware of what your… harmonia is capable of. Valerie told us all about it. And that's the reason we had Kyrese bring you here in the first place."

"Kyrese…" Samarra echoed. "That's the boy who…"

Her voice trailed off and she burned with anger. "He- he touched me like I was a-!" She'd never had someone lay their hands on her like that before, not unless she made them do it! She couldn't believe she hadn't formed a connection with him then and there, and spared herself the humiliation of having to think back to that moment.

"Gosh I know, isn't he just dreamy?" Kat swooned, and the positive vibes she was giving off from her harmonia made Samarra want to wretch.

"Will you let me go or not?" Samarra asked again. She could still take care of them both, turn the redhead when she was free, then use her strength to push down the other girl… Samarra couldn't handle feeling like this. Without anyone to form a connection to.

Completely alone.

Flora pondered it for a moment. "…Kat, let her go."

"What?! But she's totally gonna grab me! I mean, not that I'd let her you know, but this is kinda an awkward position. I do gymnastics and stuff but even THAT has limits I don't think I can just-"

"If she turns you," Flora said, grabbing the door, "then I'll just lock the two of you inside and never come back. And I don't think she wants that, do you?"

Flora had a sweet smile on her face, but the words carried a damning implication. Samarra seethed at being outsmarted by someone so…

Not her.

"…FINE," she spat through gritted teeth. And finally the iron pressure on her wrists vanished, and the other girl got off of her.

"Thanks for the wrestling match!" Kat laughed, skipping over to the door. "I can wait to do it again sometime!"

The only way Samarra was letting that girl near her was to turn her into one of her friends. She stared emotionlessly at the redhead while the blonde kept talking.

"…With your powers just wander around our base. We'll give you a room with better décor than this, and permission to come and go as you please, but… it comes at a price," Flora frowned. "And I don't think you're going to like it."

Samarra raised her eyebrow.

Flora tossed a bag into the room, and Samarra opened the bag to find a strange garment inside. They were gloves, long, dark, and made of silk, almost like stockings. They would go all the way up past her elbows. A fine accessory, if not for one small problem.

At the mouth of each glove was a metal band, like a handcuff. Fitted to snap into place.

"…So that's your answer," Samarra seethed, glaring up at the girls.

"We have keys. You won't be trapped forever," Flora assured her gently. "But as long as you have those on-"

"I understand," Samarra growled. They were collaring her. They may not be planning to lock her inside a cell, but they'd prepared a far more devious prison- one that kept her from ever forming a connection again.

"…When you're ready to leave, and you have those on, just knock on the door," Flora said. She looked like she felt very guilty about what she was doing, but she was doing it nonetheless. Without another word, the two girls left the room. Kat gave Samarra one final wave before the cell door slammed shut behind her, leaving her to contemplate her eventual fate.

So what will Samarra do? As captive of the Children of the Oracles, she doesn't have a lot of choice as to her next course of action. But it seems like she's going to have to put on those gloves. At least that way she'll be under control a little bit. With her powers, that's better than going on a rampage, I'd say. Maybe the Children of the Oracles aren't all bad.