After Olivia's outburst last chapter, there's really not much more that can be done other than for our trainers to fight it out. Alcea will give it her all, but Olivia has some tricks up her sleeve, as she just demonstrated with her Pikachu's icicle crash! What kind of move is that for a Pikachu!? I bet Alcea didn't see that one coming at least!
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: A lot of things do. How was Alcea supposed to know that Olivia's Pikachu knew moves that it wasn't supposed to know?
Aakareo Kokokuhikari: Well, if that's something you like, then you're going to be getting a lot of it in this arc, that's for sure.
Hyphenman: I'm glad, I really wanted this battle to be an epic one.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 1011
Everyone was shocked by what Olivia's Pikachu had just done, and no one was more shocked than Alcea.
"What… that move is… how?!" Alcea sputtered in disbelief.
"Do you like it?" Olivia asked, curling a lock of her hair. "It's icicle crash. A move I specially taught to Belle just because of how beautiful it is. We spent months trying to learn it, even when it should be impossible… and now, we've finally mastered it."
"But… Pikachu shouldn't be able to use a move like that," Ian said, shaking his head. It just wasn't making sense to him.
And he wasn't wrong. Icicle crash was a move that no Pikachu would learn under normal circumstances; it was a testimony to Olivia's hard work and dedication that her Pikachu was able to learn a move that should have been impossible.
But it was due to help of a different sort that she was able to use the move so skillfully in battle against Alcea.
Samarra had made a lot of friends since the Phantom let her out of the facility she'd been imprisoned in. And among those friends were several very talented pokemon trainers. And one of them in particular was nearly as obsessed with defeating Alcea as Olivia herself was.
Gabrielle's Ice type pokemon were powerful, and her knowledge of the type had nearly scored her a victory over Alcea's team in the Phantom Cup. And right now, all that knowledge was added to Olivia's own thanks to Samarra's harmonia. So now, Olivia knew how to use icicle crash in just the right way to make Alcea really hurt.
And while everyone was still reeling from that revelation, she began to press her advantage even further.
"With this intense sunlight, that ice has already started to melt!" Olivia proclaimed, glancing at the glistening ice pile that covered Anastacia. "Which works out just perfectly for us! Belle, show her what you've got by striking that wet fruit with your thunder!"
"Pikachu!" Belle shouted, beginning to build up a massive current of electricity in her body as she prepared a devastating lightning bolt.
"Oh man, this won't be good!" Ian winced.
"What do you mean?! This is going to be awesome!" Raizer cheered. He was far more engaged in an exciting battle than he was concerned about what would happen to Alcea if she lost.
"With electric terrain in place, that's going to be a lot stronger than the one that hit her Ludicolo," Donoma murmured. She could feel this was about to suck.
But Alcea wasn't so easily beaten.
"Anastacia!" She shouted. "Break free!"
"Tsareena!" Seconds before the thunder dropped down upon the pile of ice, Anastacia leapt from her frozen prison and rolled to the side, avoiding the blast with ease. She rolled to her feet and immediately charged for Belle, raising her leg and preparing a kick.
"So you dodged that one, eh? Should have figured!" Olivia grinned. "Without the rain, thunder isn't nearly as accurate! But that's just fine! Belle, hit her with icicle crash again!"
"You caught us off-guard with that move, which is why it was able to succeed," Alcea said. "But that won't work a second time. I don't know why you have a move of that type, but it will be evaded easily! Anastacia, use bounce!"
"Tsareena!" Anastacia leapt into the air as the icicles crashed down on her. She jumped from point to point, using the slick surfaces as springboards, leaping over the entire attack and crashing down towards Belle.
"Belle, dodge with agility," Olivia quickly ordered. "Then use icicle crash once more!"
"Pika!" Belle evaded Anastacia's kick and fired more icicles, but again the Tsareena skillfully evaded each one.
"Look at her go!" Giselle cheered. "She's really doing it!"
"That's some nice footwork," Lukas applauded. "But I'm surprised that Alcea's Tsareena is able to evade so easily. I'd have thought she'd get caught up at least once!"
"It must be because she's so well-trained," Ian assumed. But deep down he had another suspicion. Looking at how that Pikachu launched her icicle crash attacks, it reminded him of how Gabrielle used the move. He'd spent weeks and weeks reviewing footage of the Eight Leaders' matches, and he'd studied the ones between Gabrielle and Alcea the most. And right now, the pattern that Belle dropped icicles on Anastacia was almost identical.
Alcea had picked up on that too, though not nearly as much as Anastacia had. Once the pokemon realized she'd seen this move pattern before, evasion became a simple matter of muscle memory and she was easily able to close in on the Pikachu and kick her in the chest with a powerful trop kick that sent her flying.
"Belle!" Olivia cried, clutching her chest and doubling over in pain. "How?! How can you evade our icicle crash so easily!?"
Alcea didn't answer, because she couldn't quite be sure. Even if it did remind her of Gabrielle's moves, that wasn't exactly a suitable answer, was it?
In the first place, it's not like Olivia was doing it consciously. She was linked to her Pikachu right now, which meant that Belle was using the moves as she instructed her. Which meant that, since she was relying on Samarra's knowledge of Gabrielle, that all flowed into Belle like links of a chain. In a way, Alcea and Anastacia were fighting a shadow of Gabrielle and her pokemon, and that was a fight they were more than prepared for.
But Belle was far less prepared. She leapt to her feet and zigzagged around Anastacia, launching more icicles her way. But again, Anastacia avoided them all, this time smashing through them with a long and deadly power whip.
Olivia cursed. She needed to rely on a different tactic, since the icicles weren't getting it done. But the question was, what should she use? Due to the effects of the mist still being active, she couldn't lower Anastacia's strength with charm. Which just left…
"Belle, use thunder wave!"
Alcea was surprised by the sudden change in strategy, but not too much so. "Anastacia, prepare to dodge," she ordered. Thunder wave was a dangerous attack, and the paralysis it inflicted was nothing to sneeze at. But in this case, it could be evaded by jumping around the arcs of electricity, even with the electric terrain in place.
But Olivia's orders weren't for any ordinary thunder wave. Belle sensed her thoughts perfectly and began building up electricity through her body, dashing towards Anastacia as fast as her little legs could carry her.
"She's coming in close?" Lukas gasped.
Alcea realized what she was up to. "Anastacia, jump back!" She ordered, but it was too late. Even with Anastacia's attempt to put some distance between the two, Belle was still faster, and managed to close the distance and release a thunder wave at close range that Anastacia couldn't avoid.
But she wouldn't be able to enjoy it for long.
Electricity sparked off Anastacia as she felt her muscles start to seize. It became so much harder for her to attack after being paralyzed, but with as close as Belle was, that didn't make a difference. No fancy footwork was necessary.
She raised her hand and began drawing in sunlight, preparing her strike.
"Solar blade!" Alcea ordered. Anastacia sculpted the sunlight into a long blade of energy, and swung with as much force as she could muster. The blade fell upon Belle and tore through her dress, knocking her unconscious with a single hit.
"Aargh!" Olivia clutched her shoulder and fell to her knees. The aftermath of her pokemon fainting was severe, but she refused to give into it. The rage at having to re-tailor a dress for Belle was far stronger at the moment.
Regaining her strength, Olivia stood up and recalled Belle to her pokeball. "So… you beat Belle, huh? I see…"
"That was a brilliant move with icicle crash," Alcea complimented her. "And using agility with thunder wave was also masterfully done."
"…I've done it before," Olivia muttered. "Pokemon Contests are all about using moves in ways that the audience would never expect to see normally… so I figured it would work if I did it like that, that's all there is to it."
Alcea nodded. "Still, brilliantly done, is it?"
Olivia ignored the joyful thrum in her chest. "I don't need your compliments!" She spat. "This match isn't over just because you took out two of my pokemon! I still have more! Go, Benny!"
Olivia tossed out her next pokemon, her Gapploct.
"Oooh!" Marion brightened joyfully. "A Grapploct! Great choice, Olivia!" She called, giving her a thumbs' up.
"…Whose side are you on here?" Yellow asked, looking at her daughter incredulously. Apparently just the presence of a fish pokemon was enough to make her forget all about the nausea she was feeling from watching Olivia's battle.
"That's the pokemon she uses for Toughness Contests," Lukas said worriedly. "Which means he's probably really strong."
"I think you're right," Allen nodded. "Of all her pokemon so far, that one might be the best fit for actual pokemon battles. Well, that and her Garchomp, I mean."
"Well, Alcea? What do you think?" Olivia asked, wiping some blood from her nose with the back of her hand. "Ready to see what Benny can do?"
Alcea frowned.
"Anastacia, use-"
"Octozooka!" Olivia ordered. Before Anastacia could make a move something small and sharp dug its way into her foot, tripping her over.
"Anastacia?! What-?!" Alcea gasped in disbelief.
"I couldn't even see that move it was so fast!" Giselle exclaimed.
"Octazooka is a specialty of octopus pokemon like Octillery and Grapploct," Marion commented. "It's not that fast or that accurate. Even I could barely see it. Instead of an ink blast, it was practically like a dart."
"To win Toughness Contests, Benny and I have worked together to refine our power and control," Olivia stated proudly. "Toughness isn't just about brute force; by compressing the power of the move over a smaller square area, we can fire it much faster and more accurately, hitting our targets perfectly! What do you think?"
"Oui, your words certainly hold true," Alcea nodded as Anastacia stood back up. She was still shaking from the electricity. "But the power is negligible because it is still a Water type move. As for us… Anastacia, grassy terrain!"
"Tsareena!" Anastacia began to glow, and released a pulse down into the ground. Once again, Alcea proved the resilience of the Grass type as the blades of grass sharpened and erupted out of the ground, pushing the electricity aside. Soon enough, she regained the field advantage.
"Boring, don't you have anything new?" Olivia asked, rolling her eyes. "Never mind, of course you don't! But here's something that you should be surprised by! Benny, use focus blast!"
"Grapp!" Benny nodded, gathering up energy into his body. He fired the energy into a compressed sphere the flew through the air at incredible speed and struck Anastacia head-on, knocking her over once again.
"It's not just octazooka," Olivia explained. "Benny's focus and concentration allows him to make moves like that under any sort of circumstance. Pretty amazing, don't you agree?"
"Wow, focus blast almost never hits, but that one was dead-on," Ian said, amazed. "With accuracy and power like that, Olivia's really not messing around anymore."
"True, but Alcea won't lose to that," Raizer grinned. "She's tough! Just watch!"
"A few swift moves might be enough to get the edge, but it won't be enough to win!" Alcea shouted. "Anastacia, use acrobatics!"
"Tsareena!" In spite of her paralysis, Anastacia still put on a brilliant performance. She ran forward, darting around Benny, leaping off the grass and spinning around him as she prepared an assault from all sides.
"Yes, perfect!" Marion applauded. "Even though Grapploct is a fishy friend, he's not a Water type, he's a Fighting type! Which means Flying type moves will still be super-effective!"
"Withstand it, Benny!" Olivia shouted. "You know exactly what to do!"
"Grapploct," Benny nodded, raising his tentacles to shield his face as Anastacia pounded on him from all sides. As she did, he was constantly searching for his opening.
"Continue to pressure!" Alcea ordered. "Just a little more!"
But Olivia's eyes weren't going to be fooled. She could see that in spite of how fast Anastacia was moving, she was starting to slow down. It was the sort of opening that would have gone unnoticed by her past self, but now that she possessed the accumulated knowledge of several talented trainers it was as clear as day.
"Now!" She shouted as Anastacia swung a powerful kick at Benny's side, and the Grapploct dropped his tentacle immediately, wrapping it around her leg and stopping her.
"Tsar-?!" Anastacia sputtered in disbelief, trying to wrench herself free of the pokemon's grasp, but finding she could not.
Olivia smiled.
"That's the way!" She called. "Wrap her all the way up!"
Benny's tentacles slithered forward, wrapping around Anastacia's other leg, and then her arms as well. Unable to resist due to her paralysis, it wasn't long before Anastacia was completely tied by the Grapploct's tentacles, held restrained as the pokemon wrapped her up.
"This is… wow," Lukas said, turning bright red at the sight of a very feminine pokemon struggling to break free of the constrictive tentacles of a Grapploct. Anastacia thrashed and cried out, but Benny's grip was tight and firm as he groped across her body.
"Anastacia!" Alcea cried.
"We've got her tangled up in octolock," Olivia explained, not at all bothered by the rather… "stimulating" event her pokemon was engaged in. "It's a powerful binding move that prevents you from switching out your Tsareena… and not only that, it continually lowers her defensive abilities as well! What do you think!?"
With the mist having faded, Anastacia was trapped in Benny's grasp, unable to break free as her strength slowly left her. But that didn't mean she was defenseless. She continued to struggle in his grip, even if it was futile. As a close-range fighter, she didn't have many means of recourse with her movement sealed like this.
"I'd advise her not to struggle," Olivia continued. "After all, Benny's tentacles have enough strength to carve wood just by flexing. In her present condition, she's more likely to hurt herself than she is to hurt him."
"But you would have us just surrender?" Alcea scoffed. "Never. Anastacia! Continue your efforts! Use rapid spin!"
"You'll never get the momentum!" Olivia shouted, and she was right. With Anastacia's arms and legs bound the way they were, Anastacia couldn't build up the speed to spin her way free, nor could she find an angle to deliver her powerful kicks the way she usually did. She was completely trapped, and the only way out was through special moves.
Which was exactly what Alcea tried next.
"Use leaf storm!" She ordered, and Anastacia's hair began to shake. A powerful tornado of wind and leaves roared to life around the two pokemon pressed together, and Alcea hoped that it would be enough to shake her pokemon free.
But Olivia was having none of that.
"Not a chance! Use submission!"
"Grapploct!" Benny shouted, and the squeezes and pulls of his tentacles went from being purely restrictive to destructive. Anastacia cried out in pain as she felt her muscles burning, and she struggled to break free as Benny struggled to break her.
One of them was going to give first, and of the two of them, it was clear that Anastacia was in considerably worse shape.
Alcea winced at her pokemon's condition, wondering what she could do in this case. But she couldn't think of anything. All she could do was shout for another leaf storm.
As the tornado swirled to life again, Alcea contemplated her options. Not being able to recall Anastacia for a better matchup was fatal, that much was clear. Leaf storm was getting weaker each time, and it seemed to just be tickling the Grapploct at this point.
And Anastacia, well… Anastacia wasn't doing that good.
Olivia sighed. "This is getting tedious. Finish her off with your superpower, Benny!"
"Grapploct!" Benny roared, and power surged through his muscles. He squeezed hard, pulling with all his might, and Anastacia screamed in pain.
That was it. It was clear to everyone. Benny slithered back, releasing Anastacia from his grasp, and the pokemon fell helplessly to the ground, unconscious.
"And there it is," Olivia said triumphantly. "Isn't that one of your strongest pokemon, Alcea? Don't you just love fighting with her, showing off how much of a 'queen' you are? Well, here's what we think of that! Look at her now, completely defeated!"
Alcea had nothing to say. Without a word, she recalled Anastacia to her pokeball. She took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves, then raised her head to glare at Olivia.
"You think I'm defeated already, is it?" She asked casually.
Olivia frowned. "Don't give me that! You know as well as I do that I'm doing FAR better than you ever would have expected! So don't go pretending this is all going exactly as you hoped, because it's not! Not at all!"
Alcea shook her head. "I would never think that… because I had no hopes whatsoever when it came to battling you. But I still have pokemon remaining, and as long as that is the case… victory remains in my grasp, is it?"
She clipped Anastacia's pokeball back onto her belt, and reached for her next.
"Hollander!" She declared, releasing her Dhelmise in a swirl of shadows.
So Alcea's next pokemon is her Dhelmise! Both trainers have lost another pokemon, and yes, Alcea is on the defensive now, due to how powerful Olivia's Grapploct turned out to be! But that doesn't mean she's defeated, far from it!