Olivia and Alcea refuse to give in! Alcea might be behind for now, but she's not going to give up. Olivia's nursing one hell of a grudge, but Alcea's got power behind her, and she's not going to lose! Will Olivia's connection with Samarra be enough to overcome Alcea's years of practice and experience, or will Alcea triumph?

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: I mean you could say that about most serious pokemon battles lol. It's just one of those things you need to ignore.

Rowlets and Oshawotts: That's one way to think about it, sure.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: It could certainly go either way, that's the thing.

Hyphenman: Yup, the fact of the matter is, we've reached the portion of the Orre Region arc that's going to be filled with pokemon battles. I'll try to make them engaging and entertaining, but it's going to be a bit of a grind.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1009

Alcea didn't understand. That night in the rain? What was Olivia talking about? She wracked her brain to try and remember what Olivia was talking about, but she couldn't remember anything of the sort happening between the two of them. She bitterly noted that as she now knew, this wouldn't be the first time she'd forgotten about something important.

Given her present state… it's clear that she's not lying. I really must have hurt her… Alcea's heart ached for the other girl, in spite of how Olivia always acted around her.

"Olivia… I don't remember the incident you're talking about," she admitted. "No matter how hard I try… I just can't remember."

"I'm not surprised," Olivia glowered. "After all, it was probably nothing to someone like you. Just a promise to a girl. But for me? For me, that night was everything."

"I understand that I've hurt you," Alcea said quietly. "And I'm sorry for that. I don't know what happened between us, but I know that neither one of us can change it. All we can do is move on from here."

Olivia blinked, taken aback by that.

"…Excuse me?"

"Recently… I had an important discovery," Alcea said, looking down at the wet grass. "I learned that Victoria and I were in fact old friends. Something we both had forgotten. And when we remembered what had happened, we knew that we couldn't bring those lost years where we'd forgotten each other back. But we could make a new future together. So… isn't that possible for you and I?"

Her voice cracked. She was practically pleading with Olivia at this point.

"Can't we start a new future together?" Alcea begged. "Without having to fight like this? Please, Olivia, I want that more than anything! If I've hurt you, then let me make up for that!"

Olivia fell silent. She stared at the grass for a moment, then raised her head and smiled warmly at the other girl.

For a second, Alcea brightened, thinking that she'd finally gotten through.

"That should be easy! All you have to do is lose, and then we'll be friends!" Olivia chirped. "I'll finally have you acknowledge me, and we can start over, good as new!"

Alcea's heart sank. She couldn't get through to the other girl after all. She hardened her heart and solidified her resolve.

"I'm sorry… while it is true, I do wish to make amends… this and that are two separate things. I will not lose. Rayne!"

"Ludicolo!" Rayne opened his mouth and fired a powerful hydro pump at Rooney. Not having to worry about Wandering Spirit, Alcea could go all-out with her attacks; especially if, as Olivia had said herself, there was no chance of her opponent fighting back.

"How predictable, Alcea!" Olivia laughed. "Rooney, use protect!"

"Rune!" Rooney raised her hands and the fog condensed around her in a dark barrier, deflecting the hydro pump.

"So that's your game… you plan to stall until the poison wears us down, is that it?" Alcea scowled.

Olivia smirked, and nodded. "Something like that. And that's not all! Rooney, use mean look to keep that Ludicolo right where he is!"

"Runerigus!" Rooney hissed, her purple eye glowing. Rayne's eyes began to glow as well and he felt his body freeze up. The spell of Rooney's gaze had petrified him, setting him under a curse that made it impossible for him to escape.

"And with that, I'd say the fate of your Ludicolo is sealed," Olivia smiled. "While the toxins slowly wear you down, Rooney will remain safe and secure behind her shields and barriers. And before you know it, you'll be completely powerless!"

"It won't be that easy!" Alcea snapped. "And we'll show you how! Rayne, use mist!"

"Ludicolo!" Rayne opened his mouth, and a pale fog slowly seeped out, filling Alcea's side of the field in a dense shroud.

"Mist? Who uses mist?" Donoma asked.

"What does that do?" Lukas didn't know either.

"It's a move that prevents stat drops," Ian explained. "But I'm not quite sure what the logic of using it now is."

"Your Runerigus is naturally a very slow pokemon," Alcea said. "Even with just his base speed, Rayne is still slightly faster. I just didn't want you to do anything too… tricky while we prepared ourselves, that's all."

Olivia narrowed her eyes. "Prepare yourselves for what?"

"Tell me, Olivia, since you know my style of fighting so well, did you really think I have no precautions against poison?" Alcea asked. "After all, only two of my pokemon are immune to the status condition, and it's a critical weakness for Grass type pokemon."

"What's your point?!" Olivia demanded.

"What I'm saying is… there's a certain girl who's set her eyes on me. And when she plays with poison, it isn't as passive as you. To stay ahead of her, I've developed a few methods of my own to counteract those strategies," Alcea explained.

"Even if you give your pokemon a Pecha Berry it won't matter," Olivia sneered. Rooney will infect you again.

"Oh, I'm sure he would," Alcea agreed. "But then… it won't matter, will it? Rayne, use rest!"

"Ludicolo," Rayne nodded. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep as the restorative powers of rest took hold, healing him of his injuries and, more importantly, his poison.

"Oh, not bad," Donoma nodded. "With a little rest, Ludicolo can recover his health and keep from getting poisoned."

"So that's it? That's your little game, sending your pokemon to sleep?" Olivia snarled. "You think that makes a difference?!"

"Oui, it does, a huge difference, is it?" Alcea nodded. "After all, without poison, your entire strategy falls apart, doesn't it, Olivia? You can't drain away our health with poison, and with this mist you won't be able to take this opportunity to reduce our stats with other moves either, so what does that leave you with? You have to rely on attacking moves now… but then, that will trigger Wandering Spirit, now won't it?"

"You…" Olivia glared furiously at Alcea.

"Oh, brilliant!" Ian cheered. "Now Olivia's stuck! Alcea's given her an advantage to make a counterattack by using rest, but anything she tries will just cause their abilities to switch again!"

"And if that happens, Ludicolo will have Swift Swim back!" Marion cheered.

"…Yeah but this is really boring," Raizer groaned. "One pokemon's sleeping, and the other one's just looming there menacingly without doing anything! This doesn't get me excited at all!" Andrea shot him a look. That wasn't important right now.

Olivia bit her lip. "Rooney, use-"

"Right now you must be considering making that exchange," Alcea interrupted her. "But rest assured if that happens, Rayne won't be taking that Wandering Spirit back. We're aware of it now, and just like you, there are several ways we can win without having to use an attack. So think carefully, Olivia, what should you do?"

Olivia wanted to scream. But she didn't. She didn't need to worry, she had Samarra on her side, and Samarra thought of everything.

It's alright. There's still that move, she remembered. A wicked smile crossed her lips.

"Go ahead and rest!" Olivia laughed. "It won't make a difference, not with this! Rooney, use your curse attack!"

"Curse from a Ghost type!" Ian winced.

"That's a bold move in this situation," Donoma said, impressed in spite of herself.

"Runerigus!" Rooney began glowing with a violet aura, her eye shining. She released spectral power out of her body, sacrificing her health to lay a devastating curse on Rayne.

"It's not quite poison," Olivia admitted, pausing for a moment to catch her breath. It felt like she'd just given a chunk of her own life up in exchange for that move. "But with this… your Ludicolo's fate is sealed. And unlike poison… you can't sleep your way out of this one!"

"Ludi…" Rayne wailed in pain. The curse he was afflicted with was causing him bad dreams, and Alcea held her tongue and winced. She felt bad for the poor guy, but there was nothing to be done.

Don't worry, Rayne. With the grassy terrain, the curse isn't as dangerous as it could be. You've just got to hold on a little longer.

"Meanwhile, while you're sleeping, I suppose I should take this opportunity to improve things myself," Olivia smirked. "Rooney! Use amnesia!"

"Oh, that's something else she can do, too," Ian scowled.

"That's right, even if I can't lower your stats, I can still raise my own!" Olivia laughed. "Those hydro pumps are annoying, so let's nullify them! Amnesia again, Rooney!"

"Runerigus!" Rooney nodded. Fresh off of one amnesia she used another, temporarily sacrificing her memories to boost her focus on the current fight, heightening her special defenses.

"If she can buff her defenses enough then it won't matter how much health she sacrificed from the curse," Giselle winced. "And meanwhile, Alcea's Ludicolo is just getting weaker!"

"Now, amnesia, one last time!" Olivia proclaimed triumphantly as her Runerigus boosted her special defense as high as the stat could go. Just as she finished, Rayne finally woke up, woozy and weakened and barely standing due to the curse.

Alcea smiled. "Just in time. Go!"

"Ludicolo!" Rayne tilted forward, and shot towards Rooney in a blur.

"Wh-What!?" Olivia sputtered. "How are you moving so fast without Swift Swim!"

"Did you already forget," Alcea scoffed.

Olivia gasped. "Grassy glide!"

"That's right! Rayne doesn't just rely on special moves you know!"

"Ludicolo!" Rayne slammed into Rooney and knocked the slab part of her body backwards, dragging the mass of shadows with it. But Alcea wasn't done.

"Now Rayne, follow that up with an ice punch!" She ordered.

"Ludicolo!" Rayne pulled his fist back and slammed it into the center of Rooney's slab, coating the ghost's physical parts in ice.

"Runerigus!" Rooney struggled to break free of the ice, thrashing her shadow tendrils at Rayne to keep her back.

"Enough of this!" Olivia cried. "Use protect!"

"Rune!" Rooney created another shadow barrier around her body, forcing Rayne back while she dealt with the ice that was covering her.

"This is pretty good for Alcea," Ian noted. "Runerigus usually have very high physical defenses. But by draining her health to inflict a curse on Ludicolo, she's cost herself that advantage. She might be able to buy a little time with the effects of grassy terrain, but I don't think that will be enough."

"And grassy terrain is working for Alcea too," Donoma noted. "Her Ludicolo is offsetting a lot of the danger of curse with the restorative abilities of the terrain. Unlike toxic that only gets more and more deadly as time passes, the drain from curse is constant; Alcea can fend it off for a little while longer, it appears."

But Alcea wasn't playing defense, she was pressing the attack. "Hiding behind your shield? That's just fine with us! Rayne, use swords dance!"

"Swords dance?!" Olivia sputtered in disbelief. She was shocked at what she saw, but Alcea's Ludicolo was indeed heightening his physical strength, taking advantage of his natural impulses to dance.

She was at a loss. She'd never seen these tactics from Alcea before. She'd gone into this fight thinking she knew everything that her opponent was capable of; she had knowledge from Gerard and Gabrielle about what Alcea was capable of thanks to Samarra, and her own observations as well. But none of them knew anything about this!

…I see… she must have been keeping these moves secret from all of us… from her rivals and enemies… that makes sense… Olivia remembered her first and only battle against Alcea, when she had relied on her knowledge of the other trainer's strategies and been handily defeated due to Alcea's new techniques.

It looked like history was about to repeat itself.

The protective barrier fell and Olivia sprung into action immediately.

"Rayne, use seed bomb!" She ordered.

"Ludi!" Rayne spit seeds into the air and they rained down on Rooney, unleashing a barrage of explosions that shook the Ground type pokemon for massive damage.

"Rooney!" Olivia cried, feeling her own body get wracked with pain. The force of the blasts was nearly enough to knock her off her feet but she kept going, pushing through the agony out of pure desperation to win. I can't let this end… even if it means losing Swift Swim… no, it's not doing anything for me anyway right now, she's still faster!

"Rooney, use-"

"You won't have time to do anything," Alcea snapped. "Grassy glide!"

"Ludicolo!" Rayne shot forward, slamming into Rooney and knocking the slab of stone over. The rune pokemon shrank back into its prison and solidified, losing consciousness.

Olivia screamed. The force of her first pokemon fainting sent a burst through her head that nearly gave her a seizure. She felt her link to Rooney forcibly sever, and it shook her to her core.

"Olivia!" Alcea cried, reaching out to the other girl out of reflex. "Are you alright?!"

"DON'T YOU PITY ME!" Olivia roared, recalling her pokemon. "Not you… not you, of all people! I am… FINE!"

No one there thought she looked fine at all.

Alcea lowered her hand. "…I see. Fine, is it?"

"That's right…" Olivia panted, wiping blood from her nose. "We won't… give into you. We still have… more pokemon left…"

To Alcea's ears it sounded like Olivia was starting to lose her grasp on reality. This wasn't good.

"Belle, it's your turn!" Olivia shouted, sending her Pikachu back out.

"She's sent out her Pikachu again," Giselle gasped. "But… Alcea and her Ludicolo can win, right?" She didn't feel very confident about that statement.

"Rayne, use grassy glide," Alcea ordered, intending to take advantage of the priority move to defeat the speedy rodent.

Olivia was having none of it. "I'm sick of that fucking move! She spat, sending Belle an order through harmonia that she followed immediately. Her Pikachu darted forward, unencumbered by her large dress, and used quick attack.

"Pika!" Belle swiped low, hitting Rayne's legs and throwing him off his balance, causing him to tip and roll forward as she evaded the move.

"Now, finish this!" Olivia roared.

The rainclouds overhead began to flash, and rumbles of thunder echoed from above. With a crash of lightning Belle released a powerful thunder attack down upon Rayne's head, amplified by the powerful rainstorm.

"Rayne!" Alcea cried, but she knew it was pointless. With all the damage Rayne had sustained, that thunder would finish him for sure. And indeed it did, because when the smoke cleared, an unconscious Ludicolo lay in the soaked grass.

Belle's thunder was amplified by Olivia's harmonia, and so powerful that the clouds themselves had torn open to reveal the sun. Just like that it was as if the rains had never come, the weather had completely returned to normal.

"That's… two…" Olivia panted, smiling giddily as Alcea recalled Rayne to his pokemon. "Just four more, and you're finished."

"You did well, Rayne." Alcea had nothing but praise for her Ludicolo. "Leave this fight to the rest of our team."

Alcea turned to Olivia. "I will congratulate you on your swift thunder, and throwing us off our game with that quick attack. Masterfully done, is it?"

Olivia blinked, her face turning red. "D-Don't think you can get out of this with just some compliments! This battle isn't over yet!"

"Oui, that is correct," Alcea nodded. "Anastacia!"

With a flick of her wrist Alcea elegantly sent out one of her aces, her gorgeous Tsareena. The leggy pokemon emerged in a flutter of leaves, swinging a kick at Belle as she did. But Belle was swift, easily avoiding the attack.

"I see, so your plan is to use Queenly Majesty to avoid my priority moves," Olivia smirked. "That's what I expected, coming from you!"

"Oui," Alcea nodded. "Now, Anastacia, use sunny day!"

"Tsar!" Anastacia nodded, conjuring an orb of orange light in her hands. She kicked it high into the air, illuminating the battlefield once more in intense sunlight.

"You think that'll be enough?" Olivia scowled. "Please! You know as well as I do, I've been preparing for your strategies! Ever since the last time I lost to you, I've prepared and planned, and that's why I taught Belle a little something special! Now!"

"Pika!" Belle nodded, her cheeks crackling with electricity. Soon the current spread to her entire body, covering her in a soft yellow glow.

"Electric terrain!" Olivia ordered.

"PIKACHU!" With a cry, Belle released the electricity she was storing into the ground, frying the tall grass and covering the entire battlefield with a surging current.

Alcea gasped.

"Another terrain move? And it's electric terrain this time?!" Raizer asked, thrilled. "Now that's what I'm talking about! Things are getting real interesting now!"

"I see… so first misty terrain, then rain dance, now electric terrain, is it?" Alcea asked, raising her eyebrow. "Quite impressive of you."

"I have no intention of letting you do what you want," Olivia smirked. "Thanks to electric terrain, you won't be able to put any of my pokemon to sleep! And that's not all, just like your grassy terrain, this has the ability to boost the power of Electric type moves!"

And that's not the only trick Belle has up her sleeve, Olivia silently added. There's a certain move of hers that you'll never see coming… and it will ruin your entire team!

Olivia burst out laughing, excited to finally make Alcea acknowledge her.

So Olivia's taken a few hits, but she still has the overall advantage in the battle! Will Alcea be able to turn this around, or will Olivia be successful and defeat her? It's quite a difficult position to be in, that's for sure.