9

"So, Blake, are you ready?" Julia asked, smiling. She and Blake were waiting outside of Bulbasaur House for the others to meet up with them.

"…I guess I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be…" Blake said, looking down worriedly.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," Julia said. "And even if you lose, it doesn't matter that much, right?"

"Except for the fact that the whole school will be watching," Reiner said, walking out to meet the two of them. Blake's face went pale, Julia noticing and turning to Reiner with a glare.

"Not helping."

"Just trying to be realistic," Reiner shrugged.

"Okay, we're ready!" Cynthia burst out of the building, jumping down the steps to land in front of them, striking a pose. True to her word, she did in fact where a cheerleader uniform, as was Rose.

Blake held his hand in front of his face, blushing.

"Oh, sorry, is my femininity getting the best of your male hormones?" Cynthia teased, moving close to him.

"Seeing someone wearing that outfit while cheering for me is going to be more embarrassing than if I actually lose…" Blake said, shaking his head.

"Well, so much for your 'femininity' I guess," Julia said, smirking.

"Hey, you had your chance," Cynthia said, sticking her tongue out.

"I don't wear ponytails, and I don't do dress up," Julia said, frowning.

"Well, that's depressing, she's the only one in our group who could wear a ponytail," Blake sighed.

"You like ponytails?" Cynthia asked, surprised.

"Well, I mean, no more than normal…" Blake said, looking away, Cynthia staring at him suspiciously.

"Well, it's a good thing my hair's so short then," Cynthia said, running her fingers through her messy neck-length hair.

"What are we talking about?" Sango asked, walking out, Silver floating behind her.

"Blake's ponytail fetish," Cynthia said, shaking her head. Sango turned to Blake and looked down on him.

"Why are you staring at me like I'm scum?" Blake asked, frowning.

"Go lose in your battle, okay?" Sango said, smiling.

"Ouch, harsh," Cynthia said, frowning.

"What about the other guy?" Sango asked. "You know, the one who usually hangs out with Blake and Reiner?"

"Nick?" Reiner asked. "Oh, yeah, he said he was going to meet us there."

The five of them headed towards the main stadium, the central attraction on campus. The building stood taller than the other buildings, looking down over the flat landscape of the areas of campus at the base.

"Eon Stadium…" Cynthia said, shivering with excitement. "Oh, YEAH! This place looks so cool! I can't believe we haven't been in before!"

"Well, it's only open to students through registration and with instructor consent," Reiner said, looking through the student handbook. "I'm surprised that that reporter girl you told us about could get it reserved. Although, there are six different arenas, so maybe it's not that big of a shock."

"Well, look who it is."

Everyone turned to see Akira walk up to them, smiling. Serefina was by his side.

"Oh, is this the pre-match trash talking?" Sango asked excitedly.

"Nothing like that," Akira said, smiling. "I just want to wish Blake good luck."

"…Yeah, you too," Blake said, nodding.

"I notice you even got yourself a cheerleader, huh?"

"Of course~" Cynthia said, striking a flirty pose. "Although, your cheerleader is much better, in my opinion…"

"You're drooling…" Serefina said. "Also, I'm not a cheerleader, I'm just here for moral support. For both of you."

"Unforgiveable!" Cynthia said, shaking her head. "With a body like yours, it would be perfect!"

"Sorry about that," Julia said, pulling Cynthia back by the collar of her uniform. "This girl is a little…"

"I get it," Serefina said, smiling sympathetically. "Trust me, my roommate is a lot worse."

"Speaking of roommates, where is that girl?" Sango asked. "She said she was going to MC, right? So shouldn't she be here?"

"She is," Akira said. "She's at the stadium right now, with everyone else."

"Everyone… else?" Blake asked.

"Yeah, thanks to Dakota, your match together is now the first real event of the school year," Serefina explained, giggling. "Everyone's come to watch, even some juniors and seniors!"

"Great…" Blake said, nodding.

Blake watched reluctantly as Akira and Serefina headed into the stadium, and the group headed in after them.

The lights in the stadium were bright as Blake walked out, noticing Akira standing on the other side. Nick was already seated on one of the supporter benches, where the others sat down beside him. Blake was completely overwhelmed by the amount of people in the bleachers waiting eagerly. His legs were frozen. Everything was telling him to walk forwards, but he couldn't.

"Get on with it!" Someone threw an empty can that hit Blake in the head. Blake whirled around and shot Cynthia a dirty look. She gave him a thumbs up in response.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Dakota's voice rang out over the stadium, snapping Blake out of it. He turned to the announcer box, where Dakota, along with two other students, were sitting.

"It's nice to meet you all!" Dakota declared. "I am your lovely MC, Dakota Evans!"

"We know who you are!" Someone from the audience shouted.

"Get on with the fight!"

"Shut up you jerks!" Dakota shouted back. Her smile quickly returned. "Now then, allow me to introduce my co-MCs with you all! To my left, I have the… um… well, his name is Lukas!"

"Hello, my lovely friends!" Lukas declared, bowing dramatically, brushing his black hair from his eyes. "My name is Lukas Legato! And it is a great honor to be here in front of you all, commenting on this wonderful battle!"

"Shut up!" Someone shouted, throwing garbage at him.

"Give me back my son!" Another voice called out.

"And this is my friend Eli!" Dakota said, turning to the redhead to her right.

"…Hey," Eli said, waving to the audience, a big contrast from Lukas' introduction.

"Now then, let's get back to the men of the hour!" Dakota said, energy inflating her voice.

"IN the red corner, we have the rising star, the freshman challenger, Blake Harker, the Dragon's younger brother!"

Cheers let out from the audience.

"And, IN the blue corner, we have the jerky jerkity jerk-jerk, stupid Akira something-or-other…" Dakota sighed, shaking her head. "Anyways, all of our bets are in, and it looks like the challenger might be in for a rough battle judging by the bets!"

"Shove it in your ear, Dakota!" Akira shouted.

"Let the match begin!" Dakota declared.

"Servine, go!" Blake said, tossing out a pokeball, which his Servine emerged from.

"Kumari, go!" Akira said, his Beartic emerging. Kumari thumped his chest in anticipation.

"Leaf tornado," Blake ordered. Servine jumped into the air and held her hands up, creating a tornado of leaves from her body that she launched at Kumari.

Kumari opened her mouth and released a blast of icy wind, freezing the leaves solid. He jumped out of the way, the frozen leaves falling to the ground. Kumari lunged at Servine, icy energy coursing through his paw.

As Kumari punched at Servine, she jumped over the powerful paw, her tail glowing with iron energy. She swung her tail and hit Kumari in the jaw, knocking him backwards.

"That's freaking awesome!" Sango said, smiling. "That's what we trained for!"

Kumari jumped back and held his hands up, firing a shard of ice straight at Servine. The ice hit her straight in the chest, knocking her out of the air.

Servine hit the ground and stood up shakily, glaring intensely at Kumari.

"Kumari, ice beam," Akira ordered. Kumari opened his mouth, firing a beam of ice at Servine.

Servine ducked under the ice beam and charged at Kumari. The leaves on her tail shifted into sharpened blades, and she swung it straight at Kumari's feet, knocking him onto his back. She slammed her tail down on the ground, launching her into the air, and swung towards Kumari.

Servine focused energy into her tail again, preparing for another iron tail, swinging it straight at Kumari's chest. However, right before it made contact, the energy dissipated, returning to normal, Servine's tail lightly hitting Kumari on the chest.

"Oh no," Blake said, face palming.

"…Uh, ice punch!" Akira shouted. Kumari jumped to his feet, pulling his arm back, ice energy surging through it. He swung a massive punch nailing Servine in the stomach, sending her flying through the air. Servine crashed to the ground, unconscious.

"Well, amazing!" Dakota said, smiling. "It seems like with a powerful blow like that, it's no surprise that Akira's starting pokemon is his best partner, knocking out Blake's Servine!"

"Return," Blake said, returning Servine to her pokeball. "Scyther, I need your help!" Scyther emerged from his pokeball, charging at Kumari.

"Bullet punch!" Blake ordered. Scyther hit Kumari in the jaw, sending him skidding backwards.

"A powerful bullet punch!" Dakota said, smiling. "Amazing!"

"Why are members of the Appeal Course commenting on a pokemon battle?" Someone in the audience shouted.

"Shut up!" Dakota ordered. "Anyways, what do you guys think about this?"

"Very impressive…" Eli said, smiling. "Both of them… This match isn't decided at all…"

"Excellent!" Lukas said, grinning widely. "However, I have to say I'm rooting for Akira."

"Oh? And why is that?" Dakota asked, turning to him.

"Blake has quite a cute girl cheering for him," Lukas said, smiling. "He deserves to lose."

"…Very petty of you," Dakota said.

"Kumari, use brick break," Akira ordered. Kumari raised his paw and slammed it down at Scyther, who raised his scythe hands, blocking the attack. Scyther disappeared, reappearing behind Kumari, hitting him in the back with another bullet punch. Kumari whirled around and hit Scyther in the chest, knocking him backwards.

Scyther spread his wings and flew into the air, charging at Kumari. His hand was raised, energy surging through it.

"Ice beam!" Akira ordered. Kumari opened his mouth and fired a beam of ice straight at Scyther, who dodged to the side, avoiding the ice beam, hitting Kumari in the stomach, knocking him over. Scyther flapped his wings, soaring up into the air, and focused energy through his scythes, firing a beam of steel energy at Kumari, hitting him head on, knocking him unconscious.

"Wow, how amazing!" Dakota exclaimed. "Blake's Scyther just knocked out Akira's Beartic! He's so cool! Don't you guys think?"

"Awesome!" Eli said, grinning.

"It was okay," Lukas shrugged.

"Way to go, Blake!" Cynthia cheered.

Before anyone could say anything else Scyther began glowing. Everyone was looking at the sight of Scyther evolving.

Dakota "What the, what a sudden evolution."

Everyone in the stadium began roaring and clapping.

"So the Mattle Coat did work" Blake thought.

"Now back to our regular sho- I mean the battle" Dakota yelled out.

"Maggy, go," Akira said, tossing out a pokeball, which a Slugma emerged from.

"And Akira's second pokemon is a Slugma!" Dakota declared. "While Slugma does have a type advantage over the newly evolved Scizor, it's not fully evolved. This might not be as easy a battle as type advantage would make it seem!"

"Maggy, use flamethrower!" Akira ordered. The Slugma opened her mouth, firing a stream of flames at Scizor. Scizor flapped his wings, flying above the flames and out of the way.

Maggy opened her mouth, stones of energy forming in front of her. They shot at Scizor, who pulled his pincers back, shattering the rocks with a barrage of bullet punches.

Maggy began glowing with flame energy, releasing a blast of magma across the stadium, hitting Scizor head on, badly injuring him. Scizor plummeted out of the air, crashing to the ground.

Scizor leapt to his feet, badly injured, and charged at Maggy.

Scizor held his pincers up, firing a beam of light energy at Maggy, who was unable to dodge in time, being knocked into the air. Maggy crashed to the ground, scurrying back up, only to be hit by Scizor's bullet punch.

Maggy was launched into the air, Scizor crying out in pain.

"Oh no, it looks like Slugma's Flame Body ability has badly burned Scizor!" Dakota exclaimed. "Maybe Akira can turn it around!"

Maggy opened her mouth and fired a ball of concentrated flames at Scizor, who was too weakened to dodge. The flame sphere hit Scizor in the chest, exploding with a blast of flames, knocking him to his knees.

Maggy landed on the ground, panting, Scizor narrowing his eyes. Scizor shot forwards, pincer raised, hitting Maggy in the stomach, knocking her backwards. Scizor fell to the ground as Maggy fainted, Akira returning her to her pokeball.

"Wow, Blake's Scizor has taken out two of Akira's pokemon now!" Dakota said, impressed.

"Indeed, but his Scizor doesn't seem to be in much better shape," Lukas sighed, shrugging.

Scizor rose to his feet, panting. He was badly burned, glaring at Akira, barely able to stand.

"Harris, go," Akira said, tossing out a pokeball, which a Heracross emerged from.

"And it seems that Akira's final pokemon is a Heracross!" Dakota declared. "Bug vs. bug!"

"Harris, use close combat!" Akira ordered. Harris spread his wings and shot towards Scizor. Harris struck Scizor with his horn repeatedly, Scizor crying out in pain. Harris raised his horn and flung Scizor up into the air. He flew up after him, hitting him repeatedly with a combination of his horn and fists, raised his horn, and slammed it into Scizor's waist, slamming him into the ground.

Scizor stood up, shaking, before falling to his knees, unconscious.

"Return," Blake said, returning Scizor to his pokeball.

"Now, both trainers are down to their last pokemon," Dakota said. "What will Blake's last selection be?"

"Wartortle, go," Blake said, releasing Wartortle.

"Wart!" Wartortle said, shaking his tail in excitement.

"Interesting decision!" Dakota said. "A Wartortle! What do you guys think about that selection?"

"It's very interesting," Lukas said, nodding. "However, I'm not sure if his Wartortle will be able to stand up to that Heracross, since it's only a stronger pokemon."

"Well, Heracross is a bit weakened," Dakota said.

"True, but Heracross is in its final form, while Wartortle is not," Lukas explained.

"Eli, what do you think?" Dakota asked, turning to the redhead.

"I'm not sure yet but I think Wartortle is going to win," Eli said.

"Oh? Why do you say that," Dakota asked.

"I just have a feeling about it," Eli replied.

"Harris, use bullet seed!" Akira ordered. Harris opened his mouth, firing a wave of glowing seeds at Wartortle.

"Wartortle, bubblebeam."

"Wartortle!" Wartortle said, opening his mouth, firing out a stream of shimmering bubbles that hit the seeds, resulting in a barrage of explosions. Wartortle's body was then covered in a wave of water, and he shot at Harris at quick speed.

Wartortle hit Harris in the chest with his shell, knocking him backwards, but the Heracross was quick to recover, firing another round of bullet seeds at Wartortle.

Wartortle jumped out of the way, firing a blast of bubbles at Harris. The bubbles exploded around him, causing the Heracross to cry out in pain.

"Horn attack," Akira ordered.

Harris spread his wings and flew towards Wartortle, horn raised. He struck Wartortle low in the body and flipped him into the air, Wartortle landing on his back.

!War!" Wartortle cried, waving his hand frantically as he tried to right himself, his legs flailing in the air.

Harris flew up above Wartortle, lowering his horn to face him.

"Megahorn."

Energy began charging in Harris' horn, and he shot down towards Wartortle.

"Crabhammer!" Blake ordered. Blue energy began glowing in his hand, and he slammed it onto the ground, the force of the impact launching him off of the ground and out of the way of the horn attack. Harris' horn buried into the ground, Harris wrenching it free and turning to Wartortle.

Wartortle landed on the ground and immediately fired a bubblebeam at Harris, who countered with a bullet seed.

Harris spread his wings open and flew towards Wartortle, hitting him head on with his horn, Wartortle crying out in pain.

Wartortle landed on the ground, panting.

"Harris, use megahorn again."

"Wartortle, use aqua jet!"

Energy began drawing into Harris' horn as water swirled around Wartortle's body. The two pokemon charged at each other.

Harris' horn struck through the veil of water, but Wartortle grabbed it tightly with his two hands.

Wartortle narrowed his eyes, and slowly lifted Harris into the air by his horn.

"Wartortle!" Wartortle shouted, slamming Harris onto the ground at full force, Harris crying out in pain. Wartortle climbed on top of him, pulling his pincer back, focusing it with blue energy again. Wartortle struck Harris in the chest with another crabhammer, Harris crying out in pain.

Harris quickly shoot Wartortle off and stood up, flying up into the air. Wartortle leapt up after him, coating his body in a veil of water as he raised his hands towards the bug type.

Harris opened his mouth, firing another barrage of bullet seeds, but another bubblebeam erupted from the wave of water, countering the attack.

Wartortle hit Harris in the stomach at full force and turned towards the ground, raising his hand into a crabhammer attack through the veil of water, hitting Harris for a critical hit, slamming him into the ground.

Harris cried out in pain. The bug pokemon struggled to get to his feet, only to fall flat on his face unconscious.

"Amazing!" Dakota exclaimed, throwing her arms up into the air. "What a surprising outcome! Blake's Wartortle managed to pull off an amazing upset, and defeated Akira!"