Olivia has returned, and is eager to make friends with Alcea! How will that go over? There's been a lot of strife between the two of them, so it might not be the easiest of tasks, but I'm sure she'll give it her best anyway!

The Semi-Final Round of the Pokemon Academy Best Girl Contest 3 has begun! These are our semi-finalists! Make sure to get those votes in, and choose which of these girls you think should make it to the finals! You can only vote for 3, so make sure to pick your favorites!

Semi-Finalists: Ayame, Chloe, Cynthia, Elaina, Kate, Marion, Sango, Vic

KedharS: In a manner of speaking. She's definitely a lot more proactive about making friends, so really this is a good thing.

Rowlets and Oshawotts: Come now, they're just making friends.

Hyphenman: Yep. I saved Samarra until the very end, because I knew that she would shake things up the most. The entire plot of the Orre Region arc has essentially been hijacked by a lonely woman trying to make friends. And yes, please share any theories as they come!

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Wigglytuff, Wigglytuff, let's be friends, Yoomtah!

Tambry96bj: Can't imagine Olivia setting her sights on anyone before Alcea so I'm pretty sure we can guess.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1005

"You don't have to come with us, honey," Rui said, poorly attempting to conceal her excitement that Wes would be accompanying her and the kids to Realgam Tower.

"I'll at least travel with you down the mountain," Wes offered. "It seems like we barely get to spend any time together recently, one of us is always leaving just as the other comes back."

Rui gave him a flat stare. "No, you always leave."

He didn't have a response to that.

The truth was, Wes was motivated by more than just joining his wife for a short road trip. The terrorists that had attacked Agate Village were still at large, and it was possible that they could still be somewhere on Mt. Battle. Just in case those girls were plotting an ambush he'd stay with them until they were safely out of harm's way, and then return.

"Is that alright with you?" Wes asked, turning to Hiromi.

"What? Oh, yes," Hiromi said, nodding. "In fact, I should be the one asking you that! After all, it's your house I'll be staying at! Are you sure that's okay?"

"It will only be until tonight," Wes assured her. "I trust you won't burn it down by then."

Hiromi thought of the tension that had been burning between Olivia and Alcea for the last few days. Although they seemed to be getting along now, things still felt off. It was like Olivia was just pretending to be okay, and could snap at any moment.

And she really didn't want to see things bubble over like that.

The rest of the group said their goodbyes, with Vic making Alcea promise to look after Shaymin while she was gone. ("And Callie too, I guess.") Then they were gone, driving out by bus down the mountain and leaving the others alone.

Hiromi looked in the direction of Wes's house. Not a lot of people had come to say goodbye to the Commander's group. Giselle, Ian, Donoma, and Raizer were the only ones, and Alcea, of course. Everyone else was back at the house.

She sighed. Even though they seemed to be getting along better than before, the groups weren't exactly friends yet.

Meanwhile, back at the house, the two people she was most worried about were having a private chat as they went for a walk.

"So what are you thinking?" Ayame asked. She could always tell when the Empress had something on her mind, and her newfound friendship with Samarra didn't change that.

"Oh? Whatever do you mean?" Olivia asked, giving Alcea a serene smile as she stopped to smell one of the newly-blossomed flower patches.

Ayame narrowed her eyes. "I know you, Olivia."

Olivia shrugged. "It's simple. I'm going to make Alcea one of our friends. Isn't that what we're supposed to do? Make new friends?"

"Olivia, you can't be serious!" Ayame exclaimed. "You know as well as I do what Samarra wants. We're supposed to watch and wait for reinforcements, not act on our own. If we try to make friends by ourselves too quickly, then we could be defeated! You're not even a pokemon trainer, do you really think you stand a chance against Alcea?"

Olivia gave Ayame a look that she never would have under normal circumstances. It was cold and empty, like the other girl meant nothing to her.

"You don't understand, Ayame," she hissed. "Samarra didn't just become our friend. She opened us up to the truth! With her help, we can finally achieve our dreams, you should know that as well as I do, right?"

Ayame understood. After all, she felt the warmth of Samarra's friendship just as much as Olivia did. But she was keeping a clear head about this. Was trying to make Alcea their friend really the right course of action?

"I can hear her, you know," Olivia murmured. She absentmindedly tapped her finger against the side of her head. "She keeps telling me that I can finally do it. That after all this time, I can finally make Alcea acknowledge me. I thought it wasn't possible, I expected that she'd never look my way, never consider me at all. But if she becomes our friend… no, if I make her become our friend, then she'll finally see! She'll finally acknowledge me!"

There was a manic gleam in her eye that would have disturbed Ayame under ordinary circumstances. But she was concerned more about Samarra's wants, and she could feel her friend's overwhelming urge to make new friends.

And if this was what Olivia wanted…

Ayame sighed. "Well, if that's what you think is best, I won't stop you." Just as the words left her lips her body was bombarded with endorphins from Samarra, a confirmation that this was the right course of action. Following your desires couldn't be wrong!

In truth, Samarra had wanted them to play it safe. Even now, she was feeling everything that Ayame and Olivia were feeling, and seeing what they were seeing. And while she doubted Olivia's capability of accomplishing her goal, she had absolute faith in her friend's resolve.

Olivia's feelings were powerful. This was what she wanted more than anything, and she was going to get it. That level of dedication was intoxicating, and Samarra was eager to see it indulged. She was curious to know what would happen, like letting a feral Houndoom off its leash to see how much damage it would do.

And maybe she'd even get a friend out of the bargain.

In the meantime, though, she had other things to think about. Becoming friends with Olivia and Ayame hadn't just had the quality of opening her mind to knowledge about this interesting little brother who'd been adopted into the family in her absence. It also clued her in to the fact that there was someone else who was in the Orre Region at the moment.

"Come little sister… let's play again, shall we?" Samarra murmured as she descended the mountain with a goal in mind. Compared to that, the actions of a few overzealous friends didn't mean all that much to her. She was busy expanding her network.

Ayame and Olivia returned from their walk just as Marion and her mother were heading out.

"Oh! Just in time!" Marion grinned. "We're going fishing! Do you guys want to come?!"

By "we" she meant Jessie and Celia had been roped into it as well. Olivia and Ayame both politely declined and the girls headed on their way, meaning the only people left in the house were Andrea, who was watching over Callie as she napped, and Mirar. Andre and Erik had both gone on a nature walk, and Darla and Lila had done similar.

A few minutes later, Hiromi and the others returned. Olivia smiled and walked out to greet them, and Ayame just sighed. This was about to get messy.

"Oh, Olivia," Hiromi greeted her, glad to see that the Empress was in a good mood. "Just in time! We were talking about taking a walk after this, would you like to join us?"

Olivia just smiled. Then with a flick of her wrist she released her Garchomp.

"Cynthia, go," she ordered, her smile turning ice-cold. With a roar Cynthia charged at the students, raising her finned arm and swinging it at Alcea.

Amazingly, the redhead didn't flinch. She stood still as a statue as the fin stopped inches from her neck, while everyone scattered.

"Olivia!" Hiromi exclaimed, scandalized. "What is the meaning of this?! You cut that out right now! Whatever problems you have with Alcea, this is NOT the proper way to-"

"Shut up!" Olivia snarled, the darkness of her glare enough to momentarily silence Hiromi. "I'm the one calling the shots now!"

She turned to Alcea, holding Cynthia's pokeball up. She recalled the Garchomp.

"…So this is your 'answer' then?" Alcea asked, narrowing her eyes. "That speech last night about friendship was just a façade, is it? You mean to attack me?"

Even while she kept a cool face, inside Alcea was panicking. What in god's name was going on here? Olivia had made a lot of aggressive moves towards her in the past, bordering from passive-aggressive bitchiness to outright harassment. But this was something else entirely.

"Oh, no, nothing like that," Olivia said, her cheery smile returning. She tilted her head to the side like she was flirting with the other girl. "I mean it, Alcea! I really do want to be your friend! And this is what friends do, isn't that right? Challenge each other to pokemon battles!"

"…Pokemon battle?" Giselle choked out. "That's… but…"

"Olivia is challenging Alcea to a pokemon battle?" Donoma wouldn't have believed it if she wasn't seeing it right in front of her. Olivia hated pokemon battles almost as much as she hated Alcea. And in spite of all her training and preparation against the other girl in the Miss Pokemon Academy Competition, Alcea had still defeated her.

So why was she challenging her again, if it meant that she'd just lose? It didn't make any sense to Donoma, or to anyone else here.

"Well, I don't know what's going on," Raizer said, cracking his knuckles as he approached the Empress, "but if it's a pokemon battle you want, then I'm the man for the job! Let me at her, Alcea! I'll show her a thing or-"

"Non," Alcea snapped, holding up her hand to stop him. "She challenged me, after all."

"That's right," Olivia nodded. "Come on, Alcea, you and me. This is what you've been dying for, isn't it? The chance to beat me at your specialty? Show everyone that I'm just an ugly commoner not worthy of the respect and admiration they give me, right?!"

Alcea wasn't amused. "You're imposing your own insecurities onto me. Those are your feelings for me, is it?"

Olivia smirked. "I told you, I want to be friends, Alcea. Just like old times. But first thing's first, your attitude needs a little adjustment. And as benevolent as I am, I'm happy to accommodate."

"…I don't know what 'old times' you're speaking of," Alcea sighed, "but if it's a fight you want, then you've got it. And maybe when it's finished I can get a better sense of just what it is that you're doing here."

Alcea was still terribly confused by Olivia's behavior. Even as she proclaimed how much she wanted to be friends with her, the way she spoke and acted was exactly as demeaning and cruel as usual; no, even worse than her normal attitude, like her feelings had been warped to the point of madness. It was hard to conflate the girl in front of her with the haughty yet composed Empress she knew, the one who she'd been negotiating with just yesterday.

Whatever was going on, the only way forward was a battle. If that's what Olivia wanted, then Alcea was happy to oblige.

"Then it's agreed," Olivia smirked, carrying herself with the arrogance of a woman who believed the match was already won. "And then, once I've finally beaten you at your own game and proved to everyone which one of us is superior, then we can finally become friends!"

"Talk of friendship and feelings will come after this, yes," Alcea said, taking her own pokeball off her belt. "And as for 'beating me at my own game'… well, that will be left to the pokemon, is it?"

The raised voices were enough to draw the attention of Andrea, who came outside to see what the hell was going on.

"What are you girls doing?!" She shouted in disbelief as Alcea and Olivia took their positions on opposite sides of Wes's battlefield. This didn't exactly seem like a friendly match to pass the time with the tension hanging in the air.

Hiromi finally decided enough was enough. She turned to her daughter for answers.

"Aya, tell me right now, what's the matter with Olivia? Why is she acting like this?" Hiromi demanded. "This isn't like her at all!"

Ayame's response was strangely harsh. "Mother, there's nothing we can do about it. Just stay back and let the situation resolve itself."

Hiromi stared at her daughter, wondering if Ayame's cold attitude was due to shock, concern, or something else entirely. For a moment she thought she was looking at an entirely different girl. There was no way she could know that at the moment Samarra was watching the fight through her daughter's eyes, and through Olivia's eyes as well.

"Well?" Alcea asked. "Are you ready to begin?"

"Oh, please, ladies first," Olivia said, curtsying to Alcea in an exaggerated mockery of her foe's usual etiquette. "And as you're the only proper lady between the two of us, I insist."

Alcea didn't find the joke amusing. "Very well!" She declared. "Rosetta!"

With a flourish she released her Roserade in a flutter of red and blue petals. The masked pokemon took a bow, and prepared to fight.

"Elegant as always, Alcea! As expected!" Olivia cackled. "But that won't be enough to defeat me. Not the current me, anyway! Twilight!"

Olivia released her Twilight, and the noble horse pokemon emerged from her pokeball in a cloud of pink smoke from her ball capsule, neighing proudly.

"A wise first choice," Alcea judged. "Rosetta, begin with sunny day!"

"Roserade!" Rosetta raised her flower bouquet, firing an orb of light up into the air. As it rose into the sky the sun's light intensified, filling the battlefield with heat. Olivia didn't seem to care.

"Sunny day from you, who could have guessed?" She snorted. "But let me show you our power. Twilight!"

And then the benefit of Samarra's friendship made itself known for the first time. By becoming friends with Samarra, Olivia was connected to her. And through her, Samarra was connected to Olivia's pokemon as well.

In a warped form of harmonia, Olivia and Twilight were now bonded together, sharing their experiences like any harmonia user would. Samarra's broadcast amplified that connection and allowed her friends to piggyback off of it, like accessing a local wi-fi connection.

It wasn't quite harmonia. But it was a rush Olivia had never felt before, and it was intoxicating, filling her with power.

"Twilight, use psycho cut!" She ordered.

"Rapidash!" Sensing her trainer's feelings, Twilight gathered psychic energy into her horn until it glowed with the colors of the rainbow. Then with a flick of her head she sent that energy out in a wide arcing slash, releasing a psionic blade aimed squarely at Rosetta.

But even with harmonia a haphazard, easily-telegraphed attack like that would have no chance against Alcea. Olivia's inexperience with battle was showing and Alcea was eager to capitalize on it. She quickly ordered Rosetta to dodge, which she did with aplomb, and then followed that with a command to set up toxic spikes.

In moments Olivia's side of the field was covered with sharp thorns oozing venom. She scowled.

"So that's your game, hmm? Seeking to cut off our movement?"

"I respect your desire to face me," Alcea said. "It isn't something as carefree as a whim. I can feel your desire to win radiating off you, but… that won't be enough, is it? To overcome my pokemon you must polish your skill."

Olivia scowled.

"Shall I show you, then?" She snarled. "Twilight, agility!"

"Rapidash!" With a neigh, Twilight charged towards Rosetta, uncaring about the countless poisoned barbs eager to infect her.

Alcea blinked, taken aback. That hadn't been a move she'd expected.

"She's running right into the toxic spikes?" Donoma snorted, rolling her eyes. "What a fool! No wonder she always loses her battles!"

But Olivia's smile hadn't faded. And more to the point, Twilight did not seem to be fazed by the poison; it was like it wasn't even affecting her.

"Tell me, Alcea, who's that girl again? The clingy one who licks the ground you walk on?" Olivia asked, absentmindedly twirling a lock of her hair. "Kate, right? She uses Poison types?"

Alcea narrowed her eyes.

"Well, I suppose she won't be a fan of Rapidash from the Galar Region, then," Olivia mused. "May I introduce you to Twilight's Pastel Veil? It's a special ability that prevents her, and any of her allies, from being afflicted with poison of any sort!"

"So there's an ability like that, huh?" Donoma scowled. "It's like Immunity, but even better."

"You thought I would plan to win this fight with poison, is it?" Alcea wasn't impressed. "Not at all. And yet… it has its advantages. Rosetta, sludge bomb!"

"Roserade!" Rosetta nodded and raised her bouquets, firing a massive burst of sludge at the charging Rapidash.

Twilight didn't care. A large barrier arose in front of her before the sludge could hit, deflecting the attack and leaving her beautiful mane perfectly fine.

"I chose Twilight as my lead because of her light screen," Olivia said. "I didn't even have to give the order, we know each other so well. This is a real pokemon battle, Alcea, you won't defeat me if you keep underestimating me."

Alcea didn't waver. "And whenever did I imply… that I ever underestimated you? Rosetta!"

Rosetta began to glow bright green, and energy shot out from her body, spreading over the battlefield. In an instant the grass began to grow, shooting up and tangling around Twilight, forcing her to cut her charge short.

"Grassy terrain, eh?" Olivia smiled. "That's this new thing you're so excited about, am I right?"

"With grassy terrain in place the power of Grass type moves is significantly increased," Alcea said. "And not only that, the health of all pokemon in battle will slowly recover as well. With this move, my pokemon and I will seize the initiative in this fight."

Olivia blinked. Then she smirked. Then she burst out laughing.

"Ahahahaha! Predictable! Too predictable, Alcea Vermeil! You think this is enough to seize the initiative? To defeat me? You have been underestimating me! Or perhaps I've just been overestimating you! Watching you fight, studying your tactics, I know you better than anyone, my dear Alcea! And that's how I know that a move like this… won't be nearly enough to stop me now!"

As she laughed, Twilight's mane began to shimmer. Pink smoke billowed out of her, running along the grass and covering the entire battlefield in a thick pink fog that clung to the ground.

Alcea gasped. "This is…"

"Misty terrain. A personal favorite of Lila's. It may not increase the power of my moves like your grassy terrain does, but what it does do is nullify your own benefit! Of course, if you like, we could always fight over who will set which terrain and when, but that seems painfully tedious, wouldn't you agree? Far beneath a trainer of your caliber."

Then Olivia broke out laughing a second time. "And that's not all! With the power of misty terrain, no pokemon can be afflicted by status conditions! And you know what that means."

Alcea frowned. "Indeed."

"That's exactly right!" Olivia relished in the look of frustration on Alcea's face. "Not just poison, but now sleep and paralysis have been taken from you as well! All those spores and powders and pollens you love so much are completely ineffectual while this field is shrouded in mist! So what do you think, my dear Alcea, am I still the same trainer I used to be?"

"This is unreal," Donoma said, shaking her head.

"Was Olivia always that tough?" Ian asked, interested in spite of himself. "I'd always heard that she couldn't fight her way out of a paper bag!"

Confusion about Olivia's newfound prowess seemed to be going around.

"…It seems you are correct, I may have underestimated you, pulling off strategies like this," Alcea admitted. She was amazed. Although she'd only battled Olivia once, the way the other girl fought back then was nothing compared to her current foe.

She wasn't entirely wrong to be suspicious, though. The truth was, in a normal pokemon battle, Olivia wouldn't have come up with half the ideas and strategies she had here. But even if Olivia was no tactical master, she had help. Samarra was with her, guiding her every step of the way. And while Samarra may not have developed much as a trainer in her isolated prison, she had a whole network of friends to fall back on.

Gerard. Gabrielle. Ange. Lana and Keahi. Even Willa and Ayame. She was friends with all sorts of powerful trainers, and all their knowledge and skill about pokemon battles was hers to draw upon and share as she saw fit. Olivia was calling on all of that now, taking full advantage of her connection with Samarra to defeat her rival once and for all.

"So come, come, my dear Alcea!" She cackled. "What do you have next up your sleeve?!"

Wow, who would have thought that Olivia of all people would be able to give Alcea a run for her money? Will Alcea's position as strongest female trainer in school be overthrown?