Olivia's on the defensive, she's lost two pokemon to Hollander already and is now down to just two left. Alcea's doing great! If she can keep this momentum going, there's a good chance that she'll be able to win! But will she be able to? Olivia still has some powerful pokemon, and we haven't seen her Garchomp yet, either. What lies in store?

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: At this point, everything that Olivia does could be considered "doing something crazy" unfortunately.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1013

For perhaps the first time since becoming friends with Samarra, Olivia's mind was completely empty of thought.

She was supposed to be winning. With Samarra's help, her pokemon should have been strong enough to defeat Alcea's.

But she was losing now.

Why?

Why was she behind? Why were her pokemon not strong enough to win?

It's because you suck at battles, a voice inside of her screamed. She couldn't resist it. She was doing the best she could, and yet…

I still can't…

But then Samarra's thoughts flooded back into her, reinvigorating her with purpose. No! That's wrong! I can win! I can defeat her! And when I do, she'll finally acknowledge me as an equal! There's no other way, I have to win!

"Aaaarrrgh!" Olivia shouted at the sky, tearing a pokeball from her belt. She flung it into the air. "Twilight!"

With a loud neigh, her Rapidash emerged in a swirl of light and mist. Twilight landed in the grass and charged at Hollander, lowering her horn.

"As expected!" Alcea scoffed. "Hollander, anchor shot!"

"Dhelmise!" Hollander swung their anchor in a wide arc, looking to wrap around the pokemon and squeeze her tight.

Olivia wasn't having any of that. "Reflect!" She ordered. A large pink barrier appeared around Twilight as she continued to charge forward. When the anchor struck the barrier, rainbow sparks crackled off of it and a swirl of color warped across its surface. Even as the anchor wrapped tightly around the barrier and tried to smash it to pieces, it held firm, protecting the pokemon within.

"You won't be able to stop us with that!" Olivia snarled, her eyes flashing with harmonia. "Now, Twilight, use mystical fire!"

"Rapidash!" Twilight bellowed, and her horn began to shine with the colors of the rainbow. She lowered her head and fired a burst of flames from her horn, which spiraled towards the Dhelmise, boosted by the power of the intense sunlight.

"Hollander, protect yourself with whirlpool," Alcea ordered.

"Dhelmise," Hollander rumbled, spinning the wheel of their body swiftly and conjuring another whirlpool in front of them, with the intention of smothering the flames.

Unfortunately for them, mystical fire wasn't the same sort of Fire type attack as flamethrower, which traveled in a straight line. Instead, the flames arced around the whirlpool, swirling towards Hollander's main body and lighting it ablaze.

"DHELMISE!" Hollander's seaweed began to shake as it was ignited, their body struggling to remain intact.

"Hollander!" Alcea cried.

"Yikes, what's with those flames?!" Lukas gasped.

"It's the power of mystical fire," Ian explained. "It's a type of move that doesn't behave like normal fire, rather, it's more of a Psychic type attack, using a pokemon's psychic powers to control the flames and direct them as they will."

"That's not good for Alcea, then," Donoma frowned. "But I don't think that's enough for her to lose, either."

As if to prove her point, seconds later Hollander completely disappeared, and the flames sputtered out immediately with nothing to burn.

"Twilight! She just used phantom force!" Olivia shouted. She focused her harmonia and linked her thoughts to her pokemon, preparing a mane of mystical fire that burned around her entire body. It was just a precaution in case what happened with Benny happened to Twilight as well; if Alcea wanted to come at them with a wave of seaweed, well, she'd get what was coming to her.

I'm probably being overly cautious. Olivia understood that quite well. After all, she had a reflective barrier up. Alcea couldn't smash through that, it wasn't weakened enough yet.

And indeed, she did not. What happened, however, was that Hollander reappeared within the barrier itself. Or more specifically, a part of them did. From Twilight's shadow a massive anchor erupted out of the ground, ignoring the fire and wrapping tightly around her torso. With a powerful tug it yanked her down into the grass, smashing her against the ground, and then dragged her forward.

As if Twilight was being pulled by an otherworldly power, Hollander dragged her by her shadow towards one of the large rocks that still remained intact, intent on smashing her against the boulder and possibly finishing her off.

"NO!" Olivia shouted, concentrating her power. She focused on the barrier. If she could keep the reflect up, then the impact of the blow would be negligible. So that's what she did, concentrating on boosting Twilight's defensive abilities. And when the barrier finally struck the stone, it held.

For a little while.

"Megahorn!" Olivia shouted. When the reflect finally shattered and Twilight was again dragged forward into the stone, she'd slowed her momentum down long enough to prepare a counter. Lowering her head, her horn began to glow bright, and a field of psychic energy extended out into a long psionic horn in front of her.

Twilight's horn struck the rock, smashing it into pieces. And like that, there was a lull in the momentum from Hollander, which was enough for Twilight to summon more flames, directing them down into the anchor, using it as a line to connect back to the main body that was still hiding in the other world, burning them.

Hollander emerged with a scream, still burning from the effects of the rainbow fire. But Olivia wasn't done yet. She refused to let down the attack.

"We've got them on the ropes!" She shouted. "Now, use megahorn one last time!"

"Rapidash!" Twilight leapt into the air, her mane shining brilliantly in the sun. In spite of the fact that the majority of the audience was against her (everyone but Ayame) they were still captivated by the majestic sight of her pokemon in motion. Megahorn may not have been a move that was traditionally considered "Beautiful" by contest standards, but there was no denying that Twilight's figure was a thing of beauty.

She slammed the psionic horn right at the core of Hollander's body; where the seaweed was clumped together tightest around the wheel, that was where she made her focus, and smashed through the structure in an instant, sending the pieces of driftwood and metal flying.

Hollander let out one final wail as they fell to the ground, drained of all energy to fight; they couldn't even scrounge up the strength to pull their body back together.

Alcea stared out over the wreckage strewn across the battlefield and let out a dejected sigh, hanging her head.

"You did the best you could, is it?" She murmured, recalling Hollander to their pokeball, and the wreckage along with them. They would be able to repair their body while they rested. She then turned to Olivia.

"Come on then, send out your next pokemon!" Olivia shouted, feeling reinvigorated. Hollander had taken out two of her strongest pokemon, and now that she'd finished them off she was feeling more confident than ever.

"So she has two pokemon left now, right?" Donoma asked Ian, not that familiar with Alcea's team. "Her Venusaur, of course, and who else?"

"Her Tropius," Ian said. "It's a pokemon that does well in harsh sunlight like this, if I had to guess, she's saving her Venusaur for when Olivia finally sends out her Garchomp."

Donoma nodded, she remembered the showdown between the two of them for the Miss Pokemon Academy Competition well. Olivia had actually managed to hold her own against Alcea quite well, and apparently she'd only gotten better since then.

It would make sense that Alcea would want to save her trump card for the very end. Which meant she would probably use-

"Venus, laissez-nous danser!" Alcea declared, flinging her pokeball into the air. Her trusty Venusaur emerged in a swirl of flower petals, letting out a loud bellow.

Olivia was taken aback. "You're using Venus… now? Could it be, you're mocking me again?" She growled. "You think that Twilight is that weak?! That you can take her down, and still have enough strength to handle Cynthia?!"

"Not at all," Alcea said, shaking her head. "I have chosen Venus… because I believe that her strength is necessary to defeat your Rapidash, is it?"

Olivia clicked her tongue in frustration. She still felt like Alcea was underestimating her. Well, fine then! If she was looking down on her STILL, even after EVERYTHING that Olivia had shown her, then she was a fool! And Olivia would make her suffer, oh, yes!

"Twilight!" She shouted. "Start with your misty terrain!"

"Rapidash!" Twilight cried, releasing a curtain of pink mist that spread across the battlefield, covering the field of grass.

Alcea was unamused. "Misty terrain again, is it?"

"Of course!" Olivia nodded. "With this, none of your pokemon will be capable of laying status conditions on mine! No sleep powder or stun spore for your Venusaur, sorry!"

"As expected, you know my strategies well," Alcea smiled. "But no need to worry. I have no intention of trying to set grassy terrain… at least, not against your Rapidash, is it?"

Olivia scowled. "Of course you'd think you could defeat my pokemon without something like that! Even after all I've shown you today, you still look down on me! You still refuse to acknowledge me! But just you watch! Twilight, use mystical fire!"

"Rapidash!" Twilight lowered her horn, and rainbow-colored flames leapt out, swirling towards Venus in a tornado of burning light.

"Not at all," Alcea assured her with a shake of her head. "If it is your hard work, your dedication, your devotion, all those things I will acknowledge readily, is it?"

"Then why-?!" Olivia shouted.

Alcea narrowed her eyes. "Strength is not something one can force another to acknowledge. This strength of yours… is not enough, is it?"

Before the flames could touch Venus, she flexed her back muscles, and her flower shook. A massive tornado of petals erupted from around her, smashing into the approaching mystical flames. The wind of the petal blizzard pulled the flames apart as they ignited the flower petals, creating a brilliant lightshow of rainbow sparks in the sky.

"Whoa, that was amazing!" Giselle exclaimed. "Just the wind from a petal blizzard was enough to smother Olivia's flames!"

"And those flames were boosted by the sunlight, too," Ian said, shaking his head. He couldn't believe it, but he couldn't help but smile. "That's a really strong move she's got there."

"Of course," Raizer snorted. "After all, it's Alcea Vermeil. She was even strong enough to beat ME with that Venusaur, you know?"

"Now, Venus! On the attack!" Alcea declared, flinging her hand forward.

"Venusaur!" Venus lowered her head and bellowed, shooting towards Twilight and kicking up a curtain of mist around her.

"That speed-! That's your Chlorophyll ability, isn't it?!" Olivia spat. "Well, we can increase our speed as well! Agility, Twilight, then use your psycho cut!"

"Rapidash!" Twilight neighed, dashing around Venus as she tried to encircle the pokemon and attack from her flank. But in spite of the boost to her speed, Venus was still faster. She turned on a dime and lashed out her vine, whipping Twilight in the leg and pulling her into the air, before slamming her down into the ground.

Olivia felt a burst of pain shoot through her shoulder and cried out, but immediately focused on Twilight. Her Rapidash leapt into the air, a curtain of pink light already glowing around her body as her horn began to shine.

Twilight flung two blades of psychic energy at Venus. But Venus batted them away with her vines, shattering the bursts.

Olivia growled.

"Your Venusaur… it's really a powerful pokemon," she couldn't help but admit.

"Oui," Olivia nodded. "She is my strongest, most trusted companion, is it?"

"And with such a special ability, too," Olivia continued, narrowing her eyes. "Chlorophyll… boosting speed in harsh sunlight… you know, most Venusaur have the Overgrow ability. …No, what am I saying, of course you know that… you're an expert on the Grass type, after all?"

"…What is your point?" Alcea asked, not sure why her opponent was suddenly so talkative.

"I just think that it's really something, you know?" Olivia said, laughing bitterly and shaking her head. "You and your pokemon… that's your first pokemon, right? Didn't your parents buy her specifically for your birthday?"

"Oui, because I said I wanted to be a trainer," Alcea nodded.

"And that's how it is, isn't it? A lot of kids, when they want to be trainers, they get a pokemon to be their first. But you, see, you couldn't be satisfied with an ordinary Bulbasaur, could you?" Olivia shook her head. "No, you had to have daddy get you the best one he could. A Bulbasaur with a special ability rare to Bulbasaur… and he did. You could get a pokemon no one else could, all because of your daddy's money… why, I bet if you'd asked, he would have even gotten you one in a different color, isn't that right?"

The tone of her voice was mocking, and it stung.

"All I asked for was a Bulbasaur," Alcea firmly opposed Olivia's baseless assumptions. "I had no control over what ability she had."

"But the point remains!" Olivia snapped back. "In the end, you got something other people could only dream of, due to your family's money! Grass pokemon from all across the region, and as for me… all my pokemon… I had to catch them all! Galarian pokemon, Twilight, Ren, Benny, Rooney, they were all from my home region, because the most my dad would ever do for me was give me a simple little Gible! But that… that was fine! I just… I…"

She couldn't keep going; at this point, she wasn't even sure what she was trying to say. The words that came out of her lips were utter gibberish.

Alcea just glared at her.

"My pokemon… the bonds we formed… were bonds of necessity." She had let Olivia get away with a lot of harsh words today. Baseless and cruel statements that she tolerated due to her special consideration for the other girl.

But not this. This was something that would not stand.

"My pokemon are my own!" Alcea declared. A soft green light began to shine faintly from her chest, and if one squinted, they could see the faintest aura tickling the edges of her skin. "They helped me… they saved me! When I had nothing, when I had nobody, they were the ones who were there for me, who kept me safe!"

"And what about me?!" Olivia shouted. "Do you think… do you think that I… that I couldn't have helped you?! That I couldn't have saved you?"

Alcea didn't even know what to say to that. She just stared dumbly at Olivia.

"I-I don't… what?"

"Of course you wouldn't remember," Olivia spat. "Of course you wouldn't. But it doesn't matter anymore. I'm going to tear it all down. That Venusaur of yours, those worthless proclamations, all of it, my pokemon and I will rip it to shreds! Twilight!"

Olivia's rage fueled her power, and Twilight reared back on her hind legs with a whinny, her body glowing bright pink.

"Venusaur!?" Venus gasped as a pink aura wrapped around her body.

"Have a little taste of psychic!" Olivia smiled. "It hurts, doesn't it? That feeling of helplessness? Of knowing that no matter what you want, there's nothing you can hope to do but struggle vainly against my pokemon's power!"

"Venus!" Venus bellowed, whipping her vine towards Twilight. But Olivia narrowed her eyes and focused Twilight's power, extending the psychic aura to her vine as well, freezing it in place.

"Venus, use solarbeam! Alcea ordered.

"Venusaur!" Venus nodded, trying to tilt her body forward and blast a burst of sunlight at Twilight. But Olivia was prepared for that, too.

"Not a chance," she snarled, clenching her fist. Venus was wrenched back by a psychic tug, and her flower was tilted away from Twilight; there was nothing she could do now to attack with it, she was helpless.

"With this… you can't…-gyaaaaa!"

Olivia's statement of triumph was interrupted by a burning hole in her stomach. The ground beneath Twilight's feet, until now concealed by the mist, suddenly erupted, and a blast of molten energy shot up into her, engulfing her in a powerful Ground type move. In an instant her psychic hold over Venus was broken, and the Venusaur fell forward with a roar.

"Earth power, is it?" Alcea said, narrowing her eyes. "You were so focused on Venus' body you didn't pay attention to where her energy was going."

"So that's why you were fine with letting me use earth power…" Olivia wheezed, feeling the air having been knocked out of her lungs. "You knew… damn you, you knew-!"

"You concealed the ground from view completely," Alcea said simply, flicking back a lock of her hair. "Venus and I were able to take advantage of that, and thus you were unable to see that the very ground beneath your feet was falling out from under you, is it?"

"Rapi… dash…" Twilight struggled to get back onto her feet, but it was pointless. By the time she looked up, a beam of sunlight was already bearing down on her.

The solarbeam struck before she could even blink, smashing through the mist and knocking her unconscious.

"Twilight!" Olivia cried, feeling the burn of her own face. She raised her arm to shield herself from the searing light, and by the time she could finally see again, she already sensed that her pokemon had been defeated.

"…Return," was all she could say as she recalled Twilight to her pokeball. She only had one pokemon left. But she didn't let up. She couldn't. Not for a moment. She still had Cynthia. Her precious Garchomp. The pokemon that she would use to crush the rest of Alcea's pathetic team!

So Olivia has now been backed into a corner. The only pokemon she has left is her Garchomp… but then, her Garchomp is an incredibly powerful pokemon. Venus managed to defeat her once before, but will she have the strength to do so now, now that Olivia has received all of this power from Samarra? Can Alcea pull off a victory hear? Or is this the end?