Chapter 33: A Delicate Flower
Back in time, before Luciel connected himself to the pokenet.
"Sooo…we will be late to the ceremony if we don't leave now…so what about we leave…like now." Cynthia awkwardly proposed to everyone while trying her best to ignore Iono's plea.
"Good idea, I wouldn't want my lord to think I'm not even able to arrive on time to such a simple event." Clair supported Cynthia's opinion, but only because she was the one who felt the most awkward about the situation.
The others also silently nodded and were prepared to leave, but as Cynthia threw one last gaze at Iono, she couldn't help but feel guilt. So she swallowed her discomfort and approached the girl with a forced smile on her face.
"You're also invited to come if you want."
Iono slowly raised her head to look at Cynthia. "But…but my…my fan…how will they survive without me?" She responded with still snot in her nose and tears dripping out of her eyes.
"…listen, I'm not sure I understand why these fans are so important to you…but it is not by lamenting on the ground that you will gain them back."
"Whaaaa, I will never gain them back." She slammed her head once more on the floor and started to cry even more, to the exasperation of Cynthia who simply decided to give up on her.
"Alright, I've done all I could, let go now."
"Eh…girl with the blond hair." Mina suddenly interpellated Cynthia while looking at Luciel's unmoving body. "Luciel isn't responding."
Cynthia raised an eyebrow and approached Luciel to inspect him. "Hello Luciel, are you there?"
But Luciel didn't even react to her comment, so Cynthia started to look at him more seriously. "Luciel, can you hear me?"
But there was still no response from him, so she looked at Pandora instead, who seemed quite agitated, which made Cynthia dread more about the situation. "Pandora, what happened to him?"
Pandora noticed Cynthia's question, which made Cynthia relax a little, because if he was too agitated to even hear her question, then it would mean there was an enormous problem.
"Mimi, kyukyu muy myu, kimy! Mimimimi! Kyuumy!"
But his answer didn't explain more information…well it probably did, but she didn't understand it. "Does anyone here speak pokemon?" She asked just in case, but no one gave her a positive answer, so she grumbled while frantically rubbing her head. "Alright…at least I don't think Luciel is in any problem…maybe that's just something he does," Cynthia explained before sighing once more. "Alright everyone, I will stay with Luciel until he wakes up. You can go to the party while I wait."
'I wouldn't recommend it.' Sabrina said inside Cynthia's mind.
"…and why should I care about being late? I prefer to offend some random people than leave Luciel alone." She rebuked immediately, before looking at the ground hesitantly. "And I wouldn't want him to believe he isn't important enough for us to wait for him."
"Sob." One of the whimpers of Iono reached Cynthia, which turned her expression into a deadpan one as everyone looked at her judgmentally for her blatant double standard.
"…she doesn't count, she isn't pitiful enough to have my sympathy…and don't act like you actually care about her too."
'Don't worry, I can stay with the anomaly while you go join the trial.'
"The trial?" Clair asked in confusion. "What do you mean by the trial?"
'You shall understand when you get there…but I promise you fake Goldwin…you will wish to be there.'
Cynthia hesitated while exchanging glances with Sabrina and Luciel's unmoving body before finally agreeing. "Fine…but Mina, I'm sure you don't care about the trial right?" Cynthia didn't even wait for her answer as she was already sure of the answer she would receive. "So make sure Luciel is fine alright, and protect him if Sabrina is trying anything on him!"
Mina rapidly blinked, before giving her a thumbs up.
As for Sabrina, she didn't look remotely surprised that Cynthia doubted her, and she simply agreed to her decision without raising a fuss.
After this decision was made, Cynthia hurriedly left the shopping district to try to go to their dorm so she could at least take a shower before going to the party, but she realised it was too late when she already saw Geeta in front of multiple other students all seated in comfortable chairs..
"It seems you're just in time, please take a seat." Geeta said without even looking at them, but she didn't have the spirit to object, as she was still stressed about Luciel's well-being.
'He should be fine right…did he have a stroke while standing? Maybe I should just have called the nurse…no, I should just have performed first health on him from the start…I shouldn't have listened to Sabrina…
"Now if I could gather everyone's attention, it would be greatly appreciated." Geeta suddenly spoke up, which forced Cynthia out of her thoughts. "Now, I know what all of you are expecting, a feast, maybe with some festivity to add to the mix." Cynthia frowned when she noticed the mocking tone hidden in her voice, when Volo did something similar, it usually predicted a catastrophe, so she was already prepared for the worst. "But you see, I think a lot of you missed the point of the academy. It is as if everyone here believes they already succeeded now that you tasted the luxury offered in the academy."
Everyone's mood started to shift to a more panicked expression, as even the soft chair she sit on started to feel tense now.
"Now, I will admit that at first, we had planned to threaten you, that if your grades weren't high enough, you would be expelled from the academy, but sadly now there are not enough students to justify such an action. And I still have enough decorum not to lie about this case." She said as if she were truly disappointed she couldn't use this option anymore. "But I can confidently say that none of you are currently worthy of the expectation that the world has of you."
A lot of students in the room frowned instantly at her accusation, but only one stood up to voice his complaint. "Care to elaborate on that?!" Lance said with a cold voice that had the same property as the power he used to make everyone kneel.
But Geeta didn't even flinch against it and looked back at him with contempt. "I suppose that someone with so much self-proclaimed wisdom would know more than anyone here what I'm talking about. Especially when you're the figurehead that proves my point."
But instead of getting even more angry, Lance's brow eased up a bit. "I see, so this is what it's about, my previous stunt simply aggrieved you, and you want to take it out on the innocent. You were simply angry that I, the Ancestral Archon, promised to create a regime that would go against the collective greed of every nation! But as you knew you had no chance to beat me, you decided to diffuse your anger to all of those now under my protection! It's because of your type of abuse that I'm once more needed to ensure those who believe themselves to be powerful do not be able to harm the weak."
'You are the one who abused it.' Or that was what Cynthia wanted to return, but she remembered the promise she made toward Clair and kept her mouth shut.
But she frowned even more when she was able to notice that Lance did a quick glance beside him, and the receiver was immediately set clear.
Not like the individual himself tried to hide it, as Aaron was currently giving two thumbs up toward Lance's performance.
'So this is why he suddenly cares for us…eh, how fitting for a dragon to be trained by a bug.'
But Geeta soon answered his pitiful argument. "You don't even have the modesty needed to own up to your own mistake, yet you dare accuse me of being unjust? How pitiful that such a high clan is ready to fall so low to justify its behavior."
Lance still seemed as arrogant as ever despite the accusations, to the point where it even seemed like he was inflating his own torso. "Did you think your pitiful excuse for an insult would have any impact on me? To think that such a foolish character dares to say she stands above me if only in title."
"Oh, but I do stand above you." Geeta responded in a voice that didn't even betray a single trace of hesitation, as if this statement wasn't done in arrogance but in assurance that it was nothing but the truth.
This time, Geeta's comment did reach him, as he started to almost growl at her, but was able to refrain himself before he could show such a humiliating sight. "How many times were you hit on the head to reach such a delusional conclusion?"
"It wasn't needed, and let me present three reasons why." She started by raising three of her fingers in the air.
"First, I'm older than you, and thus more experienced in every shape or form, something that you can't replace with your infinite knowledge. This is clearly shown by your pitiful performance in trying to build trust with your future friends. As I could have thought of at least one hundred eighty-four different ways that I could have made to make people trust me in protecting them that would have been more efficient."
"It wasn't needed, I'm simply stronger than them, so it should be natural for them to follow me!" Lance rebuked, but Geeta only lowered one of her fingers.
"Second, I'm not a spoiled brat who thinks everything should be mine by a simple statement, nor while I try to murder another person for the simple reason that I try to protect one of its friends that you put in trouble in the first place."
'…wait, she's speaking about me!' Cynthia thought.
"She was the one who started it, my reaction was justified. Besides, I stand for the safety of other students, someone who threatens such a noble goal should simply be executed. Don't tell me you're against it to? Or maybe you're trying to save face because you know you wouldn't be able to protect everyone as good as me."
Geeta once again didn't respond and only lowered her second finger. "Lastly, I'm stronger than you."
Lance grew silent for a short moment before exploding in rage. "You've said enough! You don't need to tell me any other lie, I understand now that you're simply against my reign of peace! You're nothing more than a parasite of the old day that is once more scarred that the last bit of influence you hold will disappear under the resurrection of our power and our noble duty!"
Despite that each of his words was being filled with his power, Geeta still stood as straight as before, which only infuriated him even more.
But nothing made him angrier than the face she was showing him, it wasn't even one of false arrogance, or hesitation of angering him, no it was a face of disappointment, the same someone would give to a child after they destroyed a prized vase by accident.
In other words, she didn't take him seriously! This unblessed dared to look at him, an Archon, the same way he would look at every other living being was simply unacceptable for him!
"I understand your fury, after all, I didn't present any evidence for this argument, I would also feel extremely angry if a spoiled child like yourself did the same to me…well let's not consider the fact that it for this exact reason that I must waste my time on such useless banter, and let use this time to solve this issue instead."
Geeta then proceeded to look at Lance with an attentive gaze, as if she were only waiting for him to say the exact solution she had already prepared. But the worst stayed her eye, as she was now looking at him as if she had just handed him the opportunity to back down, to admit defeat! She thought that he could back down from such insolence! No, no…it would not end up like this. He will show her what happens when someone dare to defy him without the power to enforce it, he will make sure to show everyone how incompetent and prideful she is so they will understand that the single option is to join him or to perish while trying to defy the peace he will impose on a soon grateful world!
"…I defy you to a pokemon battle."
***
"…oh…these people really have nothing better to do." This was Mina's only reaction after Sabrina transmitted everything that happened into her brain.
'I prefer it that way, the more they gather attention, the less I'm noticed.'
"Why don't you just wear a mask if you don't want people to recognize you?"
'Being the only one to wear a mask in a room filled with unmasked people makes you stand out more than you think.'
Mina didn't fully understand what she meant, so to make sure she fully understood she nodded as if she understood everything and threw aways this concept deep into her memory where it will be forgotten in the next minute.
"So, why did Luciel just stand there?" Cynthia asked out of curiosity.
Because indeed, while Iono and Luciel ran near the stage, both Mina and Sabrina decided to just go sit beside their group, and as everyone's attention was taken by the fight, none of them even noticed it.
"Ah…something…something…pokenet and pokelive…I don't know…I was barely listening. I was thinking more about how comfortable I could sleep tonight with this amazing pillow. Because I don't know about you, but I…
"Alright, Sabrina, could you explain instead please." Cynthia interrupted Mina and asked for a more reliable source.
'The Gloom Archon was trying to make his power reach outside of the island to help this lost cause, but he as probably failed, but still used her naivety to control her.'
"…are you sure we're talking about the same Luciel?" Cynthia asked dumbfounded, thinking back on her interaction with Luciel.
"Yeah…Lu…Luciel is…a friend…not mean or manipulative at all." Allister stuttered, but only because he was scared of Sabrina, not because he was doubting himself.
However, Clair was nodding to the comment, as if it was obvious.
"Actually, you can't read his mind, so what makes you tell that he was lying?" Cynthia asked cautiously.
'Because even I am unable to go beyond the interference, and contrary to him, my power is specialized to reach other people. And it is useless for me to explain more, as you already found the reason.'
But before she could ask more, her attention was diverted toward the arena where Geeta finally made the first move after their prolonged staredown. "Student Iono, you will act as the referee for the duration of this showdown. Do not fret, it shall not take a long time." She tightened her glove before reaching for her belt.
"Good, at least you don't overestimate yourself." Lance mocked her as he also reached for his belt and launched his own pokemon first.
After the blue flash toned down, a hulking pokemon was revealed from the smoke. An almost titanic dragon armored with a collection of orange scales across his whole body, with the exception of his enrobed belly. After posing on the ground, the pokemon released his giant wing which pushed a giant gush of wind onto the estrade, which almost made Yellow have a panic attack.
But before it could hit anyone on the stage, the wind suddenly changed direction, as if his fate had suddenly diverged.
Only two people didn't even move toward the sudden apparition, the first was Luciel, who made sure to keep himself steady to not disrupt the camera aways from Iono, even if it mean filming the floor as she wasn't protected from the gust of wind, and I was now lying on the floor with a spiral in her eye.
But the other was Geeta, who received the full brunt of the attack without even her hair moving from a single inch. The dragon also noticed what he considered as foolery, and he tried to intimidate her with his regal pressure, but the only movement that happened was her bringing out her own pokeball.
"Wow! It's a dragonite! And judging by its size it must be a baron of its race!" Iono said in shock before raising as energetically as before. "But I'm sure that all of you are begging me right now to answer this question, what is a dragonite? Because I'm sure few of you even knew it existed, and even fewer of you had the chance to see this pseudo-legendary pokemon before."
Her voice made everyone wake up from their stupor as they looked at her in curiosity.
"This pokemon is a mighty dragon, also called the sea incarnate by those who had the luck to meet them! Despite its size, do not underestimate them, as they can travel the whole world in less than 6 hours! Their strength made most believe that he was actually a legendary pokemon…a myth that was debunked by doctor Oak…" She said the last part more quietly, as she noticed that the Dragonite seemed to listen to hear her, and looked even more arrogant now. Her concern was proven to be true, as he still heard the last part, and detoured his gaze to look threateningly at her.
But as he was looking at Iono, his gaze also barely breached Luciel and he immediately turned aways in cold sweat. Luciel wasn't even looking at him, but something told him that he didn't want it to change.
"But the most surprising thing isn't the fact that there is one standing in front of us, but that this mighty pokemon accepted to have an owner. Usually, anyone who dares try to take possession of them will be met with ultimate defiance, and anyone who dares challenge their autonomy will have to face their hyper beam! So the fact that Lance was able to own it proves that dracoloss consider him as a worthy partner!" This time it was Lance who looked happy with the compliment, even if he still showed the same stoic face.
"Usually, such an adversary is something very few people could even think of beating…but sadly for Lance, is opponent is actually one who can do more than dream of her victory, she has an actual chance to actually do it!" Iono pointed at Geeta while waiting for Geeta to bring out her own pokemon.
It was not clear if Geeta actually waited for Iono to introduce her, or the timing just coincided with her calmly launching her pokeball, but the truth didn't matter as the result was the same.
The pokemon she sent was clearly different from the one of the dragonite, as instead of arriving loudly, its appearance didn't cause any noise.
Well even if the pokemon itself didn't, it still caused a commotion as Iono still screamed in confusion. "Eeeeeh?! What is this pokemon?" She spoke in utter confusion while pointing at the flower-shaped pokemon that Geeta chose.
The pokemon looked like it was composed of firm blue petals, even if we looked closer, it would be possible to notice that it was actually a blue crystal that was starting to get generated by a strange vacuum at the center. No, it would be wrong to call it a vacuum, as there were actually two bright yellow dots that served as eyes for this pokemon. Another particularity of this pokemon was that it was levitating out of the floor as if it defied gravity.
"This is a glimmora, a rare species that can only be found inside an extremely restricted area in Paldea." Geeta said as if she were responding to Iono's question. Don't worry, you will be able to learn more if you study well." She finished while giving a calm smile.
"Eh…well the glimmora still look way smaller than Lance's pokemon…so I would say he is the one with the advantage…so why didn't she use her Kingambit? Isn't that her more showy pokemon?" As soon as her question was answered, another one immediately appeared inside Iono's head, rendering her confused to the point where her eyes looked like they were spinning.
"Can you start the battle instead of acting in front of the audience?" Lance called her back to reason as he was concentrating on Geeta.
"Ah! Right right! Hrmm hrmm…eh…what are the rules of this fight?"
"One pokemon each, and the fight ends when one of their pokemon is rendered unable to fight anymore. And no strikes are allowed toward the trainer."
"Oh, so the children rule, understood!" Iono made a formal salute to Geeta before trying to look serious for her announcement. "Alright, I declare the first battle of the academy…debut now!"`
*BAM*
The moment that signal was given, Dragonite already gave the first strike without the order of its owner and tried to punch its opponent deep into the ground, making a piece of the floor fly out from the impact.
But the Dragognite didn't care about that, as he didn't feel the same sensation of crushing a weakling as usual when he threw that punch. His guess was confirmed when he removed his fist from the ground just to see that the Glimmora was nowhere in sight.
He tried to look around, but it was too late as he suddenly felt a presence right behind his neck.
"Use Venoshock." Geeta ordered in a calm voice, but the effect was immediate, as a concentred beam of purple poison hit the dragonite's neck, to the point it was able to create a dent in it scale, but it was not able to fully pierce it.
But the simple fact that a single attack was able to cause such damage was already an impressive feat. "Incredible! Geeta was able to land the first direct blow on her adversary!
"Graagooo!" It screamed in pain before furiously looking behind him just to see the Glimora with some purple droplet slowly drifting out from its visor.
"What are you waiting for!? Attack it again!" Lance screamed in anger, and his pokemon followed the same sentiment as he turned around and threw another punch containing enough force to generate a gust of wind strong enough to break the ceiling.
But such force was useless if the opponent was fast enough to avoid it and immediately positioned itself to face its opponent's neck.
"Venoshock, again," Geeta ordered calmly before another beam cut deep inside his dragon scale. But what made him even angrier was that the spot it just hit was the exact same spot that the one he previously received, which only aggravated the injury.
But soon its anger transformed into worry, as it realised that a spot was now in the open, and he realised that if such a concentrated poison were to infiltrate its skin, it would be the end of this fight.
Lance also made this deduction, and was the angriest about it. "Is that what you call strength?! Your pokemon don't even dare receive a single hit from my pokemon! It can only dodge like a coward!"
"Didn't you pride yourself on absolute strength? A strength powerful enough to protect the whole world with your simple order? If you aren't even able to deal with such a common trick, then you can forget about realising your dream." Geeta responded, which actually reached Lance as he calmed himself.
"I suppose you're right, it's unfitting of me to complain about dirty tricks when those who oppose my vision of peace will evidently be using them." Lance scoffed before looking coldly at his opponent. "I suppose I should thank you for this lesson, but be warned that it will be the last you give me."
"…use venoshock."
Geeta glimora moved immediately after he ordered behind Dragonite's neck, but it was immediately intercepted by the dragon putting its paw on its neck and using its other arm to throw a direct punch toward the pokemon.
"Use protection." Geeta flowed out her order as fast as she could, and it allowed her pokemon the use its pokenergy to slowly create a crystalline dome around its body.
Despite the protection looking extremely thin, the punch wasn't even able to shake it.
Lance looked at the situation in surprise and tried to yell out his next instructions immediately after, but Geeta managed to be even faster. "Go for the neck again."
The Glimmora used its stretched arm to immediately glide on its arm to put some crystal on its arm before launching itself behind its neck.
But Lance was finally able to order the next directive. "Use your wing to soften the blow!" But despite making his order in time, his pokemon looked confused at the directive, which allowed enough time for the glimmora to hit it again. But this time the attack finally pierced its scale and was able to completely expose its muscle.
"Draaaa!" The dragon pushed a deep scream as the pain was finally enough to make him flinch.
"What are you doing?! You're a dragon! An alpha! You don't fall! You dominate! We are the ones who make others submit! So don't you dare fall!"
"Grr." Despite the pain, the draconite was still able to catch himself before falling and try to retaliate by trying to hit his opponent with his tail.
But the attack was too slow to reach the glimmora, so it simply dodged by and tried once more to go behind the dracoloss neck.
But he was ready this time, and executed his previous order and flapped his wing to create a gust of wind around him, forcing her glimmora to hesitate to advance even more.
"Back aways." This order from Geeta was all it needed to make its choice as it immediately moved away, which seemed to be the right decision, as a beam charged right where it previously stood.
"Oh! The dragonite finally showed its weapon that made it the second uncontested master of the sky! It's hyper beam!" Iono exclaimed before paling when she realised that the laser landed right in front of her and covered her head in pure instinct.
She wasn't the only one who did it, as some people in the audience also covered themselves in fear despite being far away from the attack.
*BOOM*
As the beam couldn't hit its intended target, it pulverized the ground and made more rocks start to fly out.
"…that…urgh…are you fine Luciel?" Iono dropped her act for a moment as she looked quite destabilised from seeing the ray so close to her. The explosion only worsened her expression, and she almost wanted to finish the live just to run away, but the only sight she was met with was an expressionless face, whose only objective was the film.
"…I…suppose that means you are fine…" Iono cleared her throat and tried her best to put herself together.
"Goooraaa!" The pokemon tried to look intimidating to ward it off, but it was clear it was extremely exhausted from this attack
"Use venoshock on his eye." Geeta ordered after noticing her exhaustion.
Lance also knew of the side effect of using such a strong attack, but that doesn't mean he will let her sacrifice his pokemon again.
"Dragonite! Flap your wing again!" Despite how tired it was, the dragon was still able to give a strong push of his wings, creating once more a shock that was strong enough to intercept the deep ray of venom that was headed his way.
"Oh! It seems that La Brava's sneakiness remains powerless toward the force of a pseudo-legendary! Despite being extremely concentred, the attack stays a liquid, which can easily be interrupted by a strong set of wind!" Iono said with the more enthusiasm she could muster, because she wanted to bring up the morale of everyone else. Or at the very least, distract them from the explosion.
"Hmph, you've heard her, now that I know what kind of fighter you are, there's no way for you to defeat me!" Lance boasted arrogantly, but he frowned when he heard a scoff from Geeta.
But she still showed no fear, in fact she only looked at him in disappointment. "You should have looked at the battlefield instead of your opponent, take that as your second lesson."
Lance's eyes widened as he was about to ask what she meant, when he finally noticed that the multiple rocks that his pokemon had separated from the floor were suddenly floating in the air, while a blue hue started to cover all of them, like it was draining their energy. "Wh…
"Clematis, use Power Gem." Suddenly, every stone lit up brightly, before transferring all of this energy into multiple rays that targeted specific spots of the dragonite. Its eyes were hit by 6 rays each, the articulation in its arms and legs was hit by 12 rays, but the majority of the base of its wing was hit, rendering them completely useless and depriving it of its only means of defending itself from Glimmora.
"Graaaah!" Another difference was that these attacks carried more power in them, which easily allowed the attack to break its scale. Dispersing it all over the arena
But this wasn't the end of the assault, and Lance knew it. "Dragonite! Behind you! It will target your neck again!"
But it was barely able to keep itself conscious, as it was the first time in his life that he suffered so much damage, so he certainly couldn't hear his trainer. And that was it last mistake it could make.
Instead of launching another poison spray, the Glimmora took some distance, before rushing toward it neck impaling itself right where he made the first hole inside its skin.
"DRAGONITE!!!"
Sensing a danger for its life, the pokemon fired a Hyper Beam by instinct, and shot it everywhere in the false hope of hitting whatever made it feel threatened, but this made the attack dangerously approach Iono.
"…eh…waitwaitwaitwaitwait!!!" Iono started to panic and even try to run away from the impact, but she suddenly remembered that Luciel was right beside her, and she tried to push him away from the attack instead.
"Wait Lance! I can divert this type of attack!" Aaron suddenly screamed in panic toward Lance, but the ancestral Archon didn't even seem to hear him; he was more preoccupied with the fight instead of the effect of his last stand.
For the first time since the start of the fight, Geeta actually looked panicked as she watched the attack. But before she could reach another of her pokeball, a giant dark claw materialised from beside Luciel, coming from right under Pandora's costume, and swatted away the beam before it could cause any damage to anyone, as if the energy was absorbed.
Geeta pushed a sigh of relief as she made sure to tighten her tie and looked at Lance's pokemon with slight disgust. "It seems you stood too tall for too long, it's time for you to fall. Clematis, use veneshock!"
This time, the concentred spray of poison was able to go directly inside the dragon skin, which made its colossal body froze for a short moment, before falling to the ground unceremoniously.
Everyone looked at the titanic beast falling so easily and so fast in confusion.
Even Lance lost his pride as he looked in horror at his own pokemon falling without even being able to give a challenge to his opponent. "What…what do you mean they can fall…" He could only mutter in disbelief.
"So referee, will you announce the winner of this fight?"
Iono woke up from her fear and slowly moved away from Luciel's body, before looking hesitantly toward Lance, but noticing his eye looked lost, she gathered the courage to announce the result. "…the winner…the winner is Geeta…the dean of the Zenith academy."