The battle of rivals between Gabrielle and Alcea is reaching the climax! Will Gabrielle's strategies and plans manage to overcome the Queen of Roses? Or will Alcea reveal that she has something else up her sleeve? It's time to settle which of them is the stronger female trainer in the Eight Leaders!
KedharS: It certainly is, Gabrielle is quite a challenging opponent.
Aquahaze675: It's gonna be a close one, that's for sure.
Pokemonking0924: It's far from a decided match. Gabrielle might have come up with some plans to counter Alcea, but I don't think Alcea's in a position where she can't come up with anything, either. She's no fool, after all.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 502
"Alcea has taken the first loss in the match!" Lila announced. "She's two pokemon to Gabrielle's three! This is a precarious position to be in! What pokemon will she use next?"
"There is only one option, is it?" Alcea murmured. "Anastacia!"
Alcea flung her pokeball into the air, and from within her Tsareena emerged, standing in regal defiance against the ice pokemon.
"And her second pokemon is her Tsareena!" Lila declared. "Will that be enough?"
"Oui," Alcea nodded. "Anastacia!"
Anastacia nodded her head, understanding her trainer's wishes, and charged at the flying moth pokemon, her powerful legs carrying her forward at high speed.
"You think I don't know how to defeat your Tsareena?" Gabrielle asked, feeling a little insulted. "You chose that pokemon because it specializes in physical moves, meaning that it can get through Frosmoth's ice scales. But at the same time, it specializes in close combat. And with our speed, we can keep far away from you. Fighting at a distance is our specialty. Frosmoth, blizzard."
Frosmoth opened her mouth and flapped her wings, gathering together wind and snow to unleash on the approaching grass type in a powerful chilling blizzard.
"Light screen," Alcea ordered. As Anastacia continued her approach, a green barrier appeared around her, shielding her from the effects of the pelting blizzard. "Now, bounce!"
Anastacia raised her hand and placed something into her mouth, chewing on it, and leapt into the air, propelling herself above the Frosmoth.
"With our speed we can dodge easily," Gabrielle said. "Frosmoth-"
"You don't have time for that," Alcea snapped her fingers. Anastacia twirled through the air and extended her leg, bringing it down on Frosmoth's back with an axe kick, hitting right at the center of the pokemon's wings. Frosmoth cried out in pain as she was driven into the ground, smashing into the battlefield painfully.
"Frosmoth," Gabrielle gasped. Anastacia leapt back. "How…"
In the stands, Callie's eyes widened in surprise, her face brightening.
"That's-!"
"A friend of ours, one of our peers," Alcea began her explanation, flicking her hair to the side for emphasis, "asked me not long ago to begin cultivating a special herb. With the weather as it is, I found myself with an abundance of time over the break, and agreed to her request. It's called a power herb. Quite a notable little plant. One bite, and your pokemon can unleash moves that would normally take longer to execute, immediately, is it?"
"Whoa!" Lila gasped. "With that plant as a held item, no wonder Alcea's Tsareena was able to unleash her bounce attack so fast!"
"Tricky," Gabrielle said, narrowing her eyes.
"Anastacia! Before she can recover, use acrobatics!" Alcea ordered.
"Tsar!" Anastacia nodded. She leapt up and kicked Frosmoth again, unleashing a barrage of powerful kicks on the pokemon.
"You were not the only one prepared, is it?" Alcea asked, narrowing her eyes. "Your Frosmoth's ice scales… only Anastacia can overcome them. So I prepared this herb, to hit her with bounce and catch you off-guard, is it? You have been watching me, training to defeat me… but I told you I do not rest on my laurels. As you have been training to defeat me, I have been training to be able to defeat you, Gabrielle."
Gabrielle's eyes widened slightly and a touch of pink colored her pale cheeks.
"Th-that's-! Frosmoth! Avalanche!"
"Fros…" While still enduring the barrage, Frosmoth began glowing blue. Massive chunks of ice appeared over both pokemon's heads, and dropped down, smashing Anastacia with double the power of the damage she had unleashed on Frosmoth.
Frosmoth flew back, panting, still badly injured but capable of fighting. A large mound of snow was piled up in front of her in the center of the battlefield, Anastacia buried beneath it.
"Is… is that it?" Lila questioned. "Alcea's down two pokemon?"
"Yikes," Dakota said, stunned.
"It's not that simple," Akira said, knowing better. That move was powerful, but he didn't believe that Alcea's Tsareena had given into it.
"Not yet," Gabrielle said, not believing it for a moment, either. "Be ready."
"Ridiculous," Alcea scoffed, flipping her hair. "Anastacia!"
The pile of snow began to glow green, and exploded in a blast of light that nearly blinded Gabrielle. Anastacia shot out of the mound, the green light surrounding her glowing brighter and brighter until all traces of color had burned away into a bright glow as pure as sunlight.
"Solar blade," Alcea ordered. Before Gabrielle or Frosmoth could react, Anastacia leapt into the air, raising her long leg, the light surrounding it, extending into a powerful blade.
"Frosmoth! Get back!" Gabrielle shouted. Anastacia swung her leg, hitting the Frosmoth's wing as the pokemon fluttered away, throwing off her flight and sending her spinning, the large slash on her wing making it impossible to stay airborne. Anastacia landed on the ground, and immediately leapt forward, charging at the pokemon.
"Fros…" Frosmoth opened her mouth, weakly firing a beam of ice at Anastacia that the grass pokemon easily dodged.
"You knew how to fight from an advantage, is it?" Alcea told Gabrielle, narrowing her eyes, "but you underestimated us from the start, and we've been controlling the flow of this match. That's the weakness with you, Gabrielle. You can come up with a strategy, but when things do not go as you plan, you panic and fail to improvise, oui? It happened with Gerard, and now it has happened against me, as well."
Anastacia unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks with her acrobatics attack, slamming Frosmoth into the ground. Anastacia stood triumphantly, stomping her foot down on the ice pokemon's head. She held her head high in victory, ignoring the pain of her injuries.
"Gabrielle's Frosmoth is unable to battle!" Lila ruled. "Now both trainers have lost a pokemon!"
"Yeah!" Kate cheered, whistling loudly. "That's the way, milady! You can defeat the rest of her pokemon just like that!"
Gabrielle said nothing, quickly regaining her composure. She held up her pokeball and recalled her Frosmoth.
I hadn't expected Alcea to catch me off-guard like that… I expected her to use her Tsareena against Frosmoth… but I didn't imagine she would win. This feeling…
Gabrielle shivered, smiling slightly. She was getting excited!
"Froslass! Again!" Gabrielle called, sending out her Froslass.
"Gabrielle's Froslass has made a return appearance!" Lila announced.
"With the injuries she sustained against Alcea's Roserade, and the injuries Alcea's Tsareena sustained against that Frosmoth, this is going to be about even," Akira noted, stroking his chin.
"Froslass, begin with taunt," Gabrielle ordered.
"Fros," Froslass nodded. She narrowed her eyes and glared at Anastacia, releasing a wave of compulsion that made Anastacia glare, forgoing status moves to charge right into fighting.
"Wait, Gabrielle's Froslass knows taunt?" Dakota asked, confused. "Then why was she struggling so much against Alcea's Roserade?!"
Gabrielle didn't respond. She had no interest in announcing her motives. She had been planning to lure Alcea into a false sense of security; allow her to have the sun for a while, use her status moves as her Roserade so often did, so when the pokemon was dealt with and she sent her Froslass back out, she could make full use of taunt to seize a commanding lead over the weather.
She had no need to say this, of course, because it had just worked.
"Anastacia, take care of her before she has a chance to do anything further! Use seed bomb," Alcea ordered.
Anastacia fired a barrage of seeds at Froslass, who dodged to the side. Gabrielle knew that with the Tsareena's queenly majesty, priority moves like her Froslass's ice shard would have no effect on the pokemon. But that was fine. She had other plans up her sleeve. All she had to do was eliminate the Tsareena, and she would win. She could then have Froslass set up destiny bond on Alcea's final pokemon, and that would be that.
"Froslass, now."
"Froslass," Froslass nodded. As she avoided the spray of seeds, Froslass held her hands up, and clouds began to gather overhead. Hail began to pelt the battlefield, the sun hidden away. Without the ability to use sunny day herself, Anastacia was now trapped in the hailstorm, which meant striking Froslass would be no easy task, the pokemon's snow cloak allowing her to easily disappear into the swirl of ice and snow.
We also cannot heal ourselves with synthesis, Alcea bitterly noted. Quite a predicament. But we are not out of moves just yet.
"Anastacia, magical leaf!"
"Tsar," Anastacia nodded. She shook the long green locks that made up her hair, leaves shaking free, glowing with rainbow light. They shot out in all directions from her, hovering in the air momentarily, before turning and shooting behind her, flying straight for Gabrielle's Froslass, hiding under the cover of the snow.
"An attack of that level?" Gabrielle asked. "Show her a real blizzard now."
"Froslass," Froslass nodded, holding her hands up. The hailstorm intensified, whirling into a massive blizzard that rolled across the battlefield, freezing the leaves solid in the air and swirling towards Anastacia.
"Counter, Anastacia. Leaf storm!" Alcea ordered. Anastacia planted her heel and turned, holding her hands up, and unleashed a blast of leaves that struck the blizzard, the two attacks canceling each other out.
"They're evenly matched!" Lila shouted, squinting at the two pokemon exchanging moves within the snow.
"No," Akira said, shaking his head.
"No," Gabrielle declared.
Leaf storm gets weaker with each use, Alcea knew. But that would not be a problem. She knew where that Froslass was, now.
"Anastacia! Power whip!"
Anastasia lashed her hand out, a long vine extending from it and wrapping around Froslass's body, holding her tightly. With a tug, she lifted the pokemon into the air and flung down, smashing Froslass into the ground. But as a ghost type, Froslass only sustained damage from the attack itself, sinking into the stadium and quickly reemerging a distance outside of Anastacia's reach. And around her body, a shimmering rainbow veil appeared. Froslass held her hands up and fired an ice beam, the beam striking Anastacia's light screen and putting a decent dent in it.
"Aurora veil," Gabrielle declared. "With the hail, even our defenses are perfect."
"Is it?" Alcea asked, narrowing her eyes. "I may not be able to see through the hail perfectly, but I know what your Froslass is capable of, Gabrielle. She took a direct solarbeam from Rosetta, and now she's just taken a power whip attack, as well. Froslass is not a tank of a pokemon, Gabrielle. She cannot sustain much more damage."
Gabrielle knew that Alcea was right on the money, but that didn't matter. She could see that Anastacia was on her last legs, as well!
I just have to take out her Tsareena, and it's my win, Gabrielle dedicated everything to that. "Froslass."
Froslass raised her hands, preparing another blizzard to finish off Anastacia. But before she could unleash her assault, vines shot out from the ground and wrapped around her, squeezing her tightly.
"Grass knot," Alcea plainly stated.
"Impossible," Gabrielle gasped. "Froslass was hiding within the hail! With her snow cloak-!"
Alcea shook her head.
"Look closer. At your Froslass's ribbon."
Gabrielle squinted through the hail, and gasped. Lodged in the knot on her Froslass's ribbon was a leaf, glowing brightly.
"How many times have we fought, Gabrielle?" Alcea asked. "I know your tactics as you know mine. I knew you would have Froslass hide in the hail as you always did. So when I had Anastacia scatter her magical leaves, I didn't just have her direct them at you from the front. When they sensed your position, I had her send a few of them around, not to attack, but to mark your pokemon, so we could find her in this blizzard."
"She did what?!" Lila gasped, surprised. "But… but she didn't say anything, or give any orders, or…"
"Harmonia?" Dakota guessed.
Alcea shook her head.
"This was not something we came up with on the fly, Gabrielle," Alcea confirmed. "In our training to fight against you, we've been practicing tricks like this. I told you before, remember? You were training to defeat me, and at the same time I've been training to defeat you. And now we know where you are, and there's no escape! Anastacia! Power whip!"
"Tsar!" Anastacia nodded, charging forward into the snow, raising her hand and conjuring her whip.
Gabrielle sighed, resigned. She could have Froslass use blizzard or ice beam, but it wouldn't matter. Tsareena's attack would land even if she did, and at best both pokemon would faint. At worst, Tsareena would dodge, or her light screen would withstand the attack as it had before, and Froslass would lose for nothing.
"Do it," she ordered, soft enough for only Froslass to hear. Froslass nodded in resignation, her body shimmering with a thin phantasmal aura, shadows whispering out of her as Anastacia's whip struck her right in the head, smacking her down into the ground.
"Gabrielle's Froslass is unable to battle!" Lila announced. "Alcea's Tsareena is the-"
Anastacia clutched her chest, groaning in pain, and stumbled. She pitched forward, landing face-first in the snow covering the ground.
"Wait, her Tsareena fainted, too?" Lila asked, confused.
"Destiny bond," Dakota noted. "A last-ditch reponse."
"So now both trainers are down to their last pokemon," Akira added.
Gabrielle and Alcea both recalled their pokemon without a word.
Gabrielle did not let her worry show on her face. This battle had not gone as she had anticipated. She had expected Frosmoth to last until Alcea's last pokemon, and when that fell through, she had hoped Froslass would be enough to get her the rest of the way. Alcea and her Tsareena had handily squashed both dreams without breaking a sweat, and Gabrielle had needed to rely on destiny bond to finally finish her off. Now they were both down to their last pokemon, and she knew what Alcea's would be for sure.
"Glaceon," Gabrielle said, sending out her Glaceon next.
"Glaceon!" Glaceon purred, landing on the ground, quickly blending into the hail. Gabrielle smiled slightly. She had the advantage. If Alcea would use sunny day to bring out the sun, she would have Glaceon use hail to call back the snow. And if they went back and forth, Glaceon would come out the victor, since the weather was already hailing.
"Venus," Alcea declared, holding up her pokeball. "Laissez-nous danser!"
A tornado of red and black flower petals erupted from the ball capsule, and her Venusaur emerged, landing on the ground with a roar.
"Gabrielle's last pokemon is her Glaceon!" Lila declared. "And Alcea's last pokemon is her Venusaur!"
"Venus, sunny day," Alcea ordered. Venus began glowing, unleashing light up into the sky, piercing through the clouds and bringing out the sun, brightening up the battlefield.
Gabrielle saw that coming, but she wasn't about to let that stand. "Glaceon, use-"
"I would advise you not," Alcea interrupted, shaking her head, even as Glaceon called the hail back, the chunks of ice pelting the battlefield again.
"I'm sure you would, but-"
"Venus?" Alcea nodded.
"Venusaur!" Venus rumbled, her flower glowing once more, bringing out the sun.
"If you go back and forth on the weather, you will be wasting your time," Alcea advised her rival.
"You will," Gabrielle corrected. "Hail has 10 PP, and sunny day only has 5. So you'll run out of PP well before I do. Glaceon, hail."
Alcea shrugged her shoulders as the hail returned, nodding to Venus. The sunlight returned again, much to Gabrielle's consternation. Why was she still fighting her on this?!
"Castform…"
Sango glanced down at Silver and sighed, patting her pokemon sympathetically. Silver was changing back and forth so fast his body was like a blur, Sango worrying a little he might just up and transform himself apart.
"It's pointless!" Gabrielle shouted. She had just about run out of patience when Alcea had Venus use her fifth sunny day. She was getting angry now, since Alcea was wasting her time, apparently out of pure stubbornness and nothing else. "Now you're done! What was the point? Glaceon, again!"
"Glaceon!" Glaceon created more hail.
"Okay, are we done now?" Dakota grumbled, getting just as irritated about his as Gabrielle was.
"…Venus?" Alcea asked.
"Venusaur," Venus nodded. She began glowing again, focusing more energy into flower, to Gabrielle's shock.
"You can't!" Gabrielle sputtered. "You used it five times! It's impossible that your Venusaur could use it again!"
"Is it?" Alcea asked, raising her eyebrow. Apparently, it certainly was possible, because seconds later the sun indeed returned.
"How?!" Gabrielle demanded, even as Glaceon brought the hail out once more.
"I wasn't satisfied with merely five uses of sunny day," Alcea explained. "I knew, that against you, I would need more. You would not, of course, be content with letting me have the sun. And hail has more PP than sunny day, so you would certainly fight me on it. So I accounted for that, and made sure to make use of PP Ups."
"Oh!" Akira gasped. "Yeah, that would work!"
"What would work?" Dakota and Lila both looked to Akira.
"PP Ups are a special item that can increase the amount of times a pokemon can use a move," Akira explained. "Moves like sunny day with limited PP, you can increase their number of uses."
"…You have a limited PP…" Dakota muttered under her breath, smirking. Lila choked a little and turned bright red at the tasteless joke. Akira rolled his eyes.
"Through the use of PP ups, I have now extended the amount of time that Venus can use sunny day to 8," Alcea revealed.
Gabrielle had been on edge, but quickly relaxed, even as the sun was brought back out for the eighth time. That wouldn't be enough.
"Sorry, but eight times won't be enough," Gabrielle smirked. "Hail again, Glaceon!"
"Glaceon!" Glaceon nodded, bringing out the hail for what Gabrielle was certain would be the final time.
Alcea sighed, smiling a little. Gabrielle was certainly a stubborn one. That's just how she was.
"Venus, use sunny day, once more."
"Venusaur!" Venus nodded, chewing on something as she used sunny day again.
Gabrielle gasped, once again stunned by the fact that Alcea's Venusaur could keep bringing out the sun. "But… but you just said…"
"Oui, I extended the amount of PP for sunny day to 8," Alcea confirmed. "But before this match began, I gave Venus one of my leppa berries. One bite, and a move's PP can be restored by 10 points. So now I have seven MORE uses of sunny day ready to go. How many hails do you have left, if I may ask?"
Gabrielle's jaw dropped open and she stumbled back, her face going pale.
"But… but that's…"
"I expected you and I would end up at this point, and you did not," Alcea said. "And when it happened, you assumed that you could keep the weather on your side, because you have more hails at your disposal than I have sunny days. But your mistake was the fact that I knew from the beginning that this would come down to a fight over the weather. Because that's the kind of trainer you are."
Gabrielle bit her lip. In the sunlight…
"Fine!" She said, wiping the sweat from her brow and trying to keep her cool. "You can have the sun. Glaceon, use ice beam!"
"Glaceon!" Glaceon opened her mouth, firing a beam of ice at Venus.
"Venus, dodge and use solar beam," Alcea ordered.
"Venusaur!" Venus nodded. Her speed, boosted by chlorophyll, let her easily dodge the ice attack in spite of her immense bulk. She compressed the sunlight into a concentrated beam and fired it from the flower at her back, right at Glaceon.
Even in the sunlight, we still have tricks up our sleeves. As long as I keep my cool, she can't win, Gabrielle reminded herself. The sun made the situation worse, much worse. She hadn't expected to lose the hail, so she hadn't planned out what to do without it. But the core of her fighting style was still solid, and Glaceon could take a lot of special attacks. And with safeguard still up, Alcea couldn't try any of her powders and poisons. Which just left special attacks, like the one coming Glaceon's way right now.
"Glaceon! Use mirror coat!"
"Glaceon!" Glaceon created a field of blue light around her body. The solarbeam hit her hard, but she withstood the attack, building up strength and preparing to send it back at Venus with double the strength.
"More, Venus," Alcea instructed, much to Gabrielle's confusion.
"What? But.."
"We'll settle this in one stroke," Alcea declared. "No tricks. Venus, put every last bit of energy you have into that solarbeam. Now tell me, Gabrielle. Will the energy you return back to me be enough to knock my Venus unconscious? Or will Glaceon fall first? Would you like to test which of our pokemon can withstand more?"
Gabrielle narrowed her eyes. Alcea wanted to play chicken? With her? But… Gabrielle's strategy had completely fallen apart. She wasn't sure if she could come up with another way out of this. And if mirror coat would double the power…
She glanced across the field and met Alcea's gaze. Even at this distance, she could see the spark burning in Alcea's eyes. Her rival was meeting her with everything. Was Gabrielle unwilling to give her the same courtesy?
If that's what you want, Alcea Vermeil. I'll show you all the hard work we've put into getting here. Gabrielle nodded. "Glaceon, endure it."
"Glaceon!" Glaceon growled, gritting her teeth, resisting the painful light burning her, desperately gathering strength in reserve to release back at the Venusaur.
"Whoa, I don't know what's going on here, but these two are really exchanging some heat!" Lila said, fanning herself.
"Will Glaceon be able to endure the solarbeam and fire it back, or will Venusaur overpower her?" Akira mused.
The power going back and forth between the two pokemon grew stronger and stronger, before finally giving out in a massive explosion that sent rays of light flying everywhere, momentarily blinding everyone in the stadium.
"What… what happened?!" Lila demanded, wiping her eyes, unable to see anything but flashes of light for a while. As the brightness faded into darkness, she shook her head trying to adjust her eyes. Everyone needed a moment to see what had just happened.
Gabrielle and Alcea's vision was restored at about the same time, and they looked out at the battlefield to see who had emerged the victor. Both pokemon had sustained serious burns, Glaceon from the initial solarbeam, and Venus from the energy fired right back at her. Both pokemon panted, staring at each other for a moment, before Glaceon crumpled, falling to the ground unconscious.
"Um… I think…" Lila quickly wiped her eyes on her sleeve, the occasional flash still obscuring her vision. But she could see clearly enough that Venusaur was the pokemon still standing. "Okay, Glaceon is unable to battle, so… Alcea is the victor! The means, Alcea will go onto the next round of the Phantom Cup!"
"…Barely," Akira added, nodding to the Venusaur, who nearly fell over herself, clearly on her last slivers of health.
"She did it!" Kate cheered, bouncing out of her seat and cupping her hands in front of her mouth. "Way to go, milady! You were amazing! An inspiration! The Queen of Queens!"
Cynthia rolled her eyes, everyone else starting to get a little annoyed by Kate's fangirling themselves. But, well, it was to be expected.
Gabrielle recalled her Glaceon and fell to her knees, shaking. She bit her lip so tightly she thought it might bleed, not that she minded. But she wasn't going to cry. Absolutely… she was not… going to cry. But it was so frustrating… she had fought so hard, trained her pokemon to be able to defeat Alcea… but for all her strategizing, the thing she was most proud of… she hadn't been able to outsmart Alcea. Alcea had completely defeated her.
She was so lost in her frustration at the outcome that she paid no mind to Alcea recalling her Venusaur and slowly walking across the field to where she knelt. It wasn't until her shadow fell over her that Gabrielle finally raised her head to face the music, already feeling her eyes watering.
"We both gave it our best," Alcea softly said. "You made your strategies, and I made mine. And in the end, our pokemon fought to the fullest they could. When Venus stood and Glaceon fell… that razor-thin margin of health is the difference between you and I."
Alcea extended her hand to Gabrielle to help the other girl up. Gabrielle gently slapped it away, rising to her feet on her own. She reached up and wiped her tears away, before finally raising her head. Only when she was staring at Alcea as an equal, without the girl standing over her, did she finally reach out and take the girl's hand.
"You said it was as thin as a razor?" Gabrielle murmured. "How wide are the razors you use?"
A thin smile spread across Alcea's lips. "A metaphor, is it?"
Gabrielle reached down and grabbed her jacket from where she'd left it, sighed, and held her head up high, even if she wasn't smiling.
"I lost. Again. But I'll win next time. I'll come up with a new strategy to beat you, and next time I won't make the same mistakes I did this time."
"Oui, you never do," Alcea said, shaking her head. "I'll be waiting."
"Good luck," Gabrielle added. "Don't led Gerard or the Phantom beat you."
"I won't," Alcea said, shaking her head, even though she knew that she could be facing the Phantom in her next round. "I will do my best, is it?"
With that as their last words, the two girls turned and headed in opposite directions, small smiles on their faces.
So the first round of the Phantom Cup has come to an end! Alcea managed to pull a narrow victory out from Gabrielle, how far will she be able to keep going? The next battle will be between Maddi and the Phantom! What tricks will he have up his sleeve, and what will Maddi have to counter them?