Olivia has turned the tide against Alcea by sending out her Slowbro, a pokemon with a serious type advantage against Alcea's entire team, as well as being capable of using rain dance to take away one of her major advantages! Will Alcea be able to turn things around and emerge victorious, or is Olivia just too strong of a foe?
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! So far, only three people have voted, we need more votes for 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: If someone as terrible at pokemon battles as Olivia can give Alcea a run for her money, imagine what Samarra could do with someone like Gerard or Alden.
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Olivia's got some bigger priorities right now.
Hyphenman: The story has been building up Alcea vs. Olivia since practically the former's introduction. But the fact that Olivia was a terrible pokemon battler made an all-out fight between the two of them seem unlikely, or at least one-sided. Hence Samarra allowing them to finally get a conclusion. And yes, Samarra is completely human, but because her brain works on a level so far above most humans, she doesn't really completely consider herself one.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 1008
"Uh-oh! That's not good!" Giselle winced. Without the sunlight, Alcea's pokemon were far weaker, the situation had turned dicey.
But Alcea didn't look concerned.
"You thought that by taking the sun, you could hinder me, is it?" She scoffed. "Ridiculous. Even without the sun shining down on me, my pokemon and I can still defeat you! Rosetta, use weather ball once more!"
"Roserade!" Rosetta shouted, raising her bouquet. She fired a weather ball once again, but this time the glowing orb didn't turn orange, instead shining a deep sea blue as it gathered energy from the rain, flying towards Ren.
Olivia smirked. "Obvious! Ren, use amnesia!"
"Slowbro…" Ren scratched his head in confusion as the weather ball hit him directly. But it didn't look like it inflicted much damage; with the power of forgetfulness, he was able to shrug off the impact of the move well. Olivia was in a similar situation, getting hit by the weather ball just felt like a splash of water compared to the previous attacks she'd endured.
So this is the difference between a pokemon made for defense and one not, hmm? Can't say I mind it. She was enjoying the fact that Alcea was putting up such a pathetic struggle. There was only one problem.
"We're not done yet!" Alcea shouted, her eyes flashing dangerously.
The bitch just wouldn't give up! Olivia was torn. Deep down, part of her enjoyed the fact that Alcea was still putting up a fight; it was why she viewed the girl as an appropriate rival, and why she wanted to crush her so mercilessly and get her to finally acknowledge her greatness.
But at the same time, the fact that she was still being so defiant was pissing her off. Like Alcea thought she was just SO much better than Olivia, that even if Olivia was winning she didn't see it as anything to be concerned over.
She was mocking her! And the Empress wouldn't stand for that!
"Ren!" She roared. "Use psychic!"
"Slowbro…" Ren began glowing with a purple light, surprising everyone by his speed. He concentrated his psychic powers towards Rosetta.
"How'd he do that so fast?!" Ian exclaimed.
"It's Quick Draw," Donoma said, narrowing her eyes. "Sometimes, Galarian Slowbro can move faster than other pokemon due to their special ability."
"Just perfect! Finish her!" Olivia crowed, as Rosetta began to glow purple as well.
But before Ren could lift her into the air, she disappeared.
"Wh-What?" Olivia stumbled in confusion. Even with all the benefits that Samarra had given her through their friendship, she still wasn't sure how to process what she'd just seen.
"Grassy glide," Alcea said, narrowing her eyes. "Oui, you may have used a priority move to seize the initiative… but you see, in grassy terrain… grassy glide itself turns into a priority move. Or have you forgotten, is it?"
Olivia snarled with frustration. "Ren! Behind you!"
Ren slowly turned around to see that Rosetta had reappeared behind him, using her grassy glide to fly over the tall grass faster than could be seen. And now she was ready to attack, her bouquet pointed right at the Slowbro's head.
"Sleep powder," Alcea ordered.
A burst of green pollen erupted from Rosetta's bouquet, bursting in Ren's face. The Slowbro stumbled back, coughing and wiping the powder away, but it was too late. Not even the rain could wash it all away, not when he'd already inhaled so much.
"Wh-what… you bitch…" Olivia muttered, feeling her own body start to slow down. Suddenly her arms were like lead and she couldn't keep her eyes open; she'd like nothing better than to just drift off to sleep.
But Samarra was having none of that. A chorus of voices broke into Olivia's mind and snapped her awake. Olivia began to twitch and shake as she was forced from unconsciousness, nearly falling over in the process. But she was back in the fight.
The same could not be said for Ren, however. While Olivia's drowsiness was just a byproduct of harmonia's linking of sensations and therefore could be broken by disrupting that link as Samarra had, Ren's sleep was a product of chemistry and biology; he was out for a while, it seemed.
"Ren, return," Olivia grumbled, recalling her Slowbro.
Alcea smirked. "Twilight again, then?"
"Shut up!" Olivia shouted with madness. "STOP IT! Stop acting like you know how this is going to go! You don't know anything! You have no idea what I'm capable of, so STOP! PRETENDING! YOU'RE! BETTER! THAN! ME!"
It was a chilling thing, seeing the soaked girl roar like a lunatic. There was no trace of the elegant and beautiful Olivia to be seen. But that didn't matter to her. Right now, the only thing that mattered was Alcea's acknowledgment; the rest was just noise.
"You're right, Olivia, I don't know how this is going to go," Alcea admitted. "But I do know… that you won't beat me with something so predictable. But by all means, prove me wrong."
Olivia opened her mouth and a noiseless scream escaped.
"…TWILIGHT!" She shouted, releasing her Rapidash once more.
Alcea smirked.
"Yikes, that girl's scary," Donoma said, feeling an odd respect for Alcea.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Ian asked, glancing at her.
"Just now, Olivia was forced to make a move just because Alcea dared her to. A real trainer wouldn't do something that foolish." Donoma tapped her chin thoughtfully. It appears Alcea's starting to figure out how to get through to her… or more specifically, how to manipulate her.
Right now, Olivia was a little warped. She wasn't her usual self, but more dangerous and unpredictable. She'd taken an early lead against Alcea, but it looked like that lead was dwindling, and fast. Olivia wasn't sure if Alcea would actually be able to pull this off, but…
She knows something. I wonder what…
Truthfully, Alcea didn't really know that much. She was just giving Olivia the best fight that she could give. But what she had become more aware of thanks to Olivia's ramblings was the fact that, apparently, what Alcea thought meant a lot to the other girl- particularly what Alcea thought about her.
This whole battle was about getting Alcea's acknowledgment, or maybe about revenge. Alcea couldn't quite be sure given how twisted the Empress's actions were. But that meant that Alcea had influence over Olivia, even just slightly.
She could be happy that the other girl cared about her opinions this much later, right now she was going to use every advantage she had to win.
"Rosetta!" Alcea shouted. "Use grassy glide!"
"Roserade!" Rosetta shot forward, refusing to wait for Twilight to set up misty terrain once more. She raised her bouquet and prepared to strike.
Then Olivia smirked.
"Baton pass."
As Rosetta hit Twilight with a burst of grass, Twilight began glowing pink. She retreated to her pokeball in a flash, replaced by an entirely different pokemon.
"Pikachu!" Olivia's Pikachu emerged from her pokeball, but she wasn't any ordinary Pikachu. Not counting the black heart marking on her dented tail, she was dressed in a fancy blue dress with a white bonnet, and even wore a sapphire brooch.
"What?" Alcea gasped in disbelief.
"Well, that's… quite a fancy Pikachu," Donoma said, raising her eyebrow. "I'd expect no less from the Empress."
"What a cute Pikachu!" Yellow gushed. Her own Pikachu was precious, but that one was just darling as well! It was almost enough to forget about the fact that Olivia was being brainwashed by some evil woman.
"You think I would really fall for that?" Olivia smirked. She was completely tranquil, as though her previous wild outburst had just been a mirage. "I've been waiting for this day for far too long to lose my cool so easily. But thank you for playing right into my hands, mon cheri."
Belle ran forward with surprising agility given her dress. She raised her tiny fist and leapt into the air, hitting a stunned Rosetta in the face.
"Excellent work, Belle!" She praised her Pikachu with a smile. "Now, use volt switch and finish her off for good!"
"Pika!" Belle covered her body in electricity, surprisingly not ruining her dress at all, and charged forward. She released a burst of golden lightning as she returned to Olivia's pokeball, striking Rosetta and knocking the Roserade over for good. Olivia finished the display with a curtsy, a proud smile on her face.
"I do believe that's the first loss of the match, oui?" Olivia replied, her statement shaking the audience out of their stupor.
"No… no way! Alcea was the first one to lose a pokemon?!" Lukas exclaimed.
"That was a real strong switch just there," Raizer said, narrowing his eyes. "Fighting like that… I don't know, it just doesn't seem normal for her… it really must be because of that thing, whatever it is that's possessing her."
"Well, Alcea?" Olivia called, twirling a lock of her soaked hair. "Aren't you going to call your Roserade back?"
"I-I am," Alcea stuttered, returning Rosetta to her pokeball. She was stunned. It wasn't like she was taking Olivia lightly. She'd seen enough of how the other girl fought to know that this was a wildly different foe than the one she'd battled against previously. But she'd still fallen for the other girl's trick all the same.
I'm not thinking clearly… my heart's still twisted because I'm fighting against her… Alcea shook her head. Now wasn't the time for distractions.
"Send out your next pokemon!" She shouted to Olivia. "When returning a pokemon with volt switch, you must send out your new pokemon before the trainer who lost their pokemon to the move does the same!"
Olivia smirked, raising her eyebrow. "Oh, what's that? Are you so afraid of my team that you want a sneak preview of what you'll be fighting? Trying to get whatever edge you can because you don't want to lose, is that it? I didn't think it was possible for you to be so cute!"
Alcea turned scarlet. "That… no, that's not what this is!" She protested. "I am merely telling you the rules of a pokemon battle, is it?!"
Olivia just shrugged. She narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Oh, but my dear Alcea… my pokemon is already out."
"Wh-What?" Alcea was taken aback by that response. Olivia's side of the field was completely empty, all except for…
Wait, was the fog always this thick?
A dense, ominous fog had crept onto the battlefield when Alcea wasn't looking. It hung over Olivia like a curse, the other girl's black dress practically blending into the darkness. There was a wicked look on the other girl's face.
Alcea gasped. A single purple eye was glowing in the darkness behind Olivia!
"Runerigus!" The shadows coalesced around a stony slab, forming Olivia's fourth pokemon. The wicked specter crept forward, her single eye glowing with malice.
"So that's your next pokemon," Olivia frowned.
"Precisely," Olivia smiled. "May I introduce Rooney, my Runerigus?"
She's using a Ground type pokemon against my team… there must be something more to it, Alcea judged. Furthermore, she's using it when grassy terrain is in place, weakening the power of moves like earthquake. I can't be reckless about this. For my next pokemon, I should rely on…
Ultimately what settled Alcea's mind was the weather.
"Rayne!" She shouted, releasing her Ludicolo.
"Ooh, good choice!" Marion brightened. She pumped her fist into the air with glee. "Yeah, that's perfect, get her, Alcea!"
"Using a Water/Grass type the second I bring out a Ground type pokemon," Olivia smirked. "You really are scared, Alcea. And here I thought you'd be saving him for my Cynthia, to try and take her down with your ice beam!"
Alcea smirked. "Don't worry. I have more than enough faith in Rayne's abilities, he can easily do both, is it?"
Olivia's eye twitched. "Rooney!" She shouted. "Use toxic!"
"Rune!" Rooney cackled, raising her arms. Poisonous sludge oozed out of the cracks in the stone, coalescing into an orb of toxic energy that she flung at Rayne.
"Predictable," Alcea scoffed. "Rayne, dodge and use hydro pump!"
"Ludicolo!" With blinding speed Rayne easily sidestepped the slime, opening his mouth wide and firing a torrent of water at Rooney. The blast struck the slab pokemon head-on, amplified by the power of the rain.
"Not only does she get boosts in the sun when her pokemon have Chlorophyll, but she even has Swift Swim on her Ludicolo to turn the tide when it's raining!" Marion cheered.
"That one did hurt," Olivia coughed out, wiping the rain off of her face. "But you see… you'll have to try better than that to defeat us."
"Huh?" Alcea frowned.
"That toxic attack was never meant to hit you," Olivia smirked. "You may not realize it… but your pokemon has already been afflicted with a dreadful curse. Oh, and I don't mean the move, curse, either, no… something much more… insidious."
"Ludicolo…"
"Rayne?" Alcea stared at her exhausted pokemon. "What's the matter?"
"Feeling a little tired, hmm?" Olivia called. "Well, what a pity, right, Rooney?"
"Runerigus," Rooney cackled gleefully. That's when Alcea saw the dark miasma leaking out of the cracks of her stone body.
"What have you done to my pokemon?!" Alcea shouted.
"Oh, nothing much. I've just… played around a little, that's all," Olivia laughed. "Now, Rooney, let's try your toxic once more, shall we?"
"Runerigus!" Rooney's stone head bobbed up and down in a nod, and she fired another orb of toxic energy at Rayne.
"Dodge again, like last time!" Alcea ordered.
Rayne tried to avoid the attack, he really did. But his body was moving too slowly for some reason, and the toxic attack seemed to flying twice as fast as last time. Because of that, there wasn't much he could do other than take the hit head-on. With a wail of pain, the poison seeped into him, weakening him drastically.
"What the heck?!" Marion gasped. "Why'd he suddenly slow down?!"
Alcea narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the Runerigus. She knew that pokemon must have done something, but what? She hadn't seen her use a single attack that would have an effect of lowering speed!
Olivia gasped in mock concern. "Oh, my, Alcea, you shouldn't frown so angrily," she laughed. "You'll ruin that beautiful face of yours with wrinkles! Don't worry, I'll be happy to let you know what's happened. You see my dear, Rooney has quite a special ability… called Wandering Spirit. Whenever she's hit by an attack that does damage… the pokemon who hit her has their ability switched with hers! So now, your Ludicolo has lost its Swift Swim ability… and I've taken it for myself!"
"That can't be!" Alcea gasped. She had no idea there was an ability like that!
"Oh, but it can! You thought you could turn the rain to your advantage, but no. Now Rooney's twice as fast as she used to be, and your pokemon, well…"
Olivia finished her sentence with a smirk.
"That's a really scary power…" Lukas winced.
"But it has its limits," Ian said. "After all, if their abilities switched, that means Alcea's Ludicolo now has the Wandering Spirit ability. So Olivia can't hit him with an attack, or else their abilities will switch again and she'll give Rayne his Swift Swim back."
"This is really confusing," Hiromi groaned, not used to pokemon battles. She turned to her daughter. "Aya, are you doing okay?"
Ayame turned to her mother. "Yes, mom, I'm fine. Why?"
Hiromi frowned. "W-Well… with everything that's happening, and what's going on with Olivia… I thought you'd be a lot more worried…"
Ayame realized that her silence was starting to look suspicious, so she quickly shifted her focus. "I-I am," she admitted, hanging her head. "I'm terrified for Oliv- err, the boss. I don't know who that was that was possessing her, but… but it can't be good, right?"
"Oh, sweetheart…" Hiromi hugged her daughter, realizing that Ayame was so reserved because of fear and shock. She had no way of knowing that Ayame was actually on Olivia's side in this whole mess.
That's right, I just need to keep pretending everything's normal, Ayame silently reminded herself. That's what Samarra wanted her to do.
Meanwhile, in the midst of the battle, Olivia was having some problems.
With the grassy terrain and Rayne's recovery moves, I can stall the toxic for a long time, Alcea thought. And if she attacks me again, then I'll get Swift Swim back, so…
"Excuse me, Alcea, but are you thinking right now 'if she attacks me again, then I'll get Swift Swim back'?" Olivia called.
Alcea gasped, surprised at how effortlessly she'd been read. Was it really that easy to see what she was thinking?
"I don't blame you for planning for something like that," Olivia shrugged. "But it's not going to go the way you expect. That's the reason I poisoned your pokemon in the first place, after all. I have no intention of attacking your pokemon with any move that can do damage!"
Alcea was stunned.
"Geez, I know poison's good, but can she really wear down a bulky pokemon like that without a single attacking move?" Donoma couldn't help but smile at the absurdity. "That's something I gotta see."
Olivia took a deep breath, staring up at the rainclouds. "You see, my dear Alcea… I have no intention of letting you enjoy yourself in the rain. A girl like you… you're much more suited to bloom brightly, in the sunlight."
Alcea blinked. She wasn't quite sure what to make of that out-of-nowhere compliment.
"Uhum, um, that is…"
"But you see… we can't all live in the sun, can we?" Olivia asked, turning to Alcea. The rain covering her face concealed the tears in her eyes.
"That's right…" She murmured, staring at Alcea's confused expression. "After all, it was raining that night, wasn't it?"
"That night? What do you mean?" Alcea asked, still lost.
Olivia's pensive look twisted with fury. "The night where you destroyed everything!" She snarled, her fighting spirit reigniting once more.
Dang, Olivia's really out for blood. She's got the advantage now, but will she be able to keep it? And yes, I altered Wandering Spirit slightly for the purposes of this series, but then, moves that make contact are a rather nebulous category to begin with, especially considering that it's a Ghost type pokemon anyway. I think this is fine.