The Coolness Competition keeps going! Sango managed to defeat Ayame, and now Darla and Lila are facing off against each other! Dragons vs. Fairies is a well-known mathcup, which one of them will come out the winner?

KedharS: They definitely have their own charisma, and Lila is certainly cute and adorable, that's for sure.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 750

Lila wore a sweet smile on her face as she cheered on her Ribombee, the Fairy type pokemon striking Melody with incredibly powerful fairy attacks.

Darla ground her teeth together. She knew this was going to be a difficult battle, but she was getting increasingly frustrated by the fact that Lila was pushing her like this. She knew, of course, that Lila wasn't the senseless fool she pretended to be; she was, in fact, very clever, and knew a lot about battling, even if she didn't like it very much.

She also knew the ins and outs of her Fairy pokemon, which was exceptionally irritating. Darla kept her smile up, though, and continued to perform as she was expected to. Because unlike the Phantom Cup, there wasn't anything on the line here. She didn't need to use her special abilities.

…Still, the nerve of Lila, using powder!

Luckily, Melody was a pokemon who could fight without needing to rely on special moves.

"Melody, dragon dance," Darla ordered. She needed to settle this quickly. Melody flapped her wings and flew forward, energy crackling around her as her speed and attacking power rose. "Now, aerial ace!"

"Altaria!" Melody flapped her wings and disappeared in a flash, reappearing behind Vivy. She struck the tiny bug with her beak, piercing the little Ribombee, the Fairy type pokemon crying out in pain. She fluttered weakly, turned, and glared at Melody, not ready to give in just yet.

"Nice one, Darla!" Lila cheered, applauding her partner. "That was a really strong attack! But we won't go down so easily! Vivy, use reflect!"

"Ribombee!" Vivy buzzed, flapping her wings and creating another pink barrier around her, strengthening her physical defenses.

Darla saw that one coming. Lila was that kind of fighter. She would hid behind her barriers and keep her pokemon safe, which made it difficult for her to counter, especially with so little time.

Darla smiled. She had the perfect plan, though.

"Melody!" She called. "Use defog!"

"Altaria!" Melody chirped. She spread her wings and flapped hard, and a blast of wind blew through the battlefield, pushing away the pollen and dispersing the light screen and reflect as well, opening up an avenue for attack.

"Aaaaah!" Lila wailed. "Not my hair! Come on, Darla, you can't use moves like that against an idol, it's not right!"

Darla's eye twitched. "Melody, strike her down with aerial ace!"

The timer was ticking down quickly. Darla needed to take out Vivy fast, before the annoying bee got the better of her. Another aerial ace attack ought to do it now that the reflect was gone and she could strike with physical moves.

Lila grinned. Darla knew what that grin meant. "Not happening!" Lila crowded. "Vivy, use draining kiss on Melody!"

"Ribombee!" Vivy buzzed, flapping her wings and zipping forward. She circled around Melody and flew up quickly to her neck, planting a soft kiss on it. She began to suck out Melody's energy, draining her of her energy and badly weakening the pokemon.

"Melody!" Darla cried. Melody's strength had been sucked out too much for her to strike back as felt her energy draining away. Before she could regain the strength to attack, or even shake Vivy off of her, the timer finished counting down to zero, buzzing across the battlefield. The match was over.

"…Return," Darla said, recalling Melody to her pokeball. "You did your best, Melody, take a nice little rest!" She said, trying to remain chipper.

"Way to go, Vivy!" Lila grinned, calling her Ribombee back. "We really showed Darla what's what, that was great work!"

"So, because our girls failed to decisively finish the battle within the five minutes allotted, we'll be turning the decision over to the judges!" Lukas explained, turning to look at the judging stand. "They will take everything they saw into consideration, and determine which one of our competitors gave a better show and fought the best! So, judges, what do you think? Both of these girls put on an excellent show, but who do you think deserves to move on?"

"Well, they both fought admirably," Kanone said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Darla was smart to make use of her Altaria's defog attack, but she didn't have the chance to follow through with it. That suggests a serious lack of planning if you ask me."

Ian nodded in agreement. "I think it was rather smart of Lila to use that powder attack at the beginning, as well. She's held the lead for the majority of this match, that's what I think."

"I think that of the two of them, Lila definitely put on the better performance, making use of her Ribombee's abilities," Akira agreed.

The results were clear.

"And so, with a unanimous ruling from our judges, we've decided that Lila Seelie will be moving onto the next round of the Coolness Competition!" Lukas announced. "Let's give a round of applause! Not just for our victor, but for her lovely opponent as well! Both of you girls did an amazing job, fighting your hardest against one another!"

Darla smiled, in spite of her frustration, and applauded Lila, the other girl beaming brighter than the sun and taking bow after bow. Lila had tried her hardest, after all, even if in Darla's eyes she may have broken character just a little bit. She deserved the win she'd gotten, and Darla was very happy for her. If she had to lose to someone, she was glad it was her partner.

"I just want to thank the academy," Lila said, dabbing away at false tears in her eyes. "And also my dear partner Darla. If it wasn't for them, I never would have been able to get as far as I did. The academy for turning me into the performer I was meant to be, and Darla for being the same hard-headed girl who uses dumb dragons that are so easily taken out by my Fairy types. Thank you guys so much!"

…Aaaaaand there went Darla's good will. Lila sure seemed to know how to push her buttons and go just a little too far. Darla was going to have some words with her after this and make sure Lila knew just how special dragons were.

Lila skipped up to Darla, beaming. She clasped Darla's hands before the other girl had a chance to speak, let alone defend her team against the other girl's callous statements.

"That was so much fun, wasn't it?" Lila asked, squeezing Darla's hands tightly. "We got to fight a real battle! …Well, kind of. I can't believe I've been missing out on something so fun all this time! Maybe I should learn more about this 'pokemon battle' stuff, do you think? Then we can have battles all the time, wouldn't that be fun?"

"…Yeah, sure," Darla said, trying to sound excited for it. She knew damn well that Lila was just playing things up for the audience, and that he friend was more than aware of the ins and outs of pokemon battles.

Without another word, Darla walked out hand in hand with Lila, needing to get off the stage before she completely snapped and let her veneer fall away.

With the girls' departure, Lukas reclaimed his position in the center of the stage. "That was quite a great fight!" He declared. "But we have more battles to come! Our next competitors are going to give off an interesting fight, that's for sure! Let's call them out, Olivia Himeko vs. Serefina Kagefusa!"

The crowd applauded as Olivia and Serefina walked out onto the stage. Both girls had changed out of the costumes they had been wearing for the Cuteness Competition, Olivia wearing a brand new dress that was a deep navy blue with black highlights and Serefina just wearing a casual turtleneck over jeans. The time for appeals had passed, so she didn't need to look her best anymore.

Of course, the turtleneck clung to her body and emphasized her curvaceous figure, but small victories were small victories for a reason.

"Well, hello there," Olivia said, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. "I must say, I didn't expect to be facing you. Serefina, right? I remember you. From the party!"

Olivia gave Serefina a smile devoid of anger or resistance, even though Serefina was going to be a powerful enemy that Olivia needed to defeat. Right now, Olivia was thinking with… other things than her mind.

Needless to say, the way Serefina's turtleneck sculpted her body was not lost on Olivia.

"I'm a little surprised myself," Serefina smiled. "I'd heard that you didn't enjoy pokemon battles. Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Worried about me?" Olivia cooed, batting her eyelashes at Serefina. "Aww, that's so cute! But you don't have to worry, Serefina, I'm more than capable of handling myself! But I'll tell you what. After I win, when this contest is over, maybe you and me can get together and spend some time having a little bit of fun?" She purred, giving Serefina a coy wink.

Cynthia stared at the stage, her brain shorting out a little. She tried to picture the image of Olivia and Serefina in bed together, but her thoughts were causing fuses to snap. "Uh… that's…" She stammered out. "Yes, please!"

"No, I'm sorry, but I'll be very busy," Serefina replied, diplomatically refusing the offer with a smile. "Let's begin, shall we?"

"Ahem, well, this is quite a turn," Lukas said, clearing his throat. His face was a little hot; like most of the audience, the thought of the Empress paired together with Serefina brought certain exciting thoughts bubbling up from deep in his mind.

Without another word, he stepped off the battlefield and allowed the two girls to begin their match in peace.

"Well, Serefina, would you like to start?" Olivia asked, gesturing to the other girl.

"Don't mind if I do," Serefina said, smiling sweetly to the other girl. "Barneby, come out!"

Serefina tossed her pokeball up into the air. Her Banette emerged, cackling madly, teleporting around the field in puffs of shadow to show off.

"Oh?" Olivia asked, surprised. She raised her eyebrow quizzically. "You're using your Banette? I was certain that you would be using your Goodra; such a powerful Dragon type pokemon, after all, it would make for an amazing partner, right?"

She shrugged, giving a rueful smile. "I don't know much about battling so I can't say for sure," she admitted. "But it certainly seems like that, doesn't it?"

Serefina dismissed Olivia with a wave. "That… That's not important," she said, her face heating up a little. She didn't want to admit that even though she took such good care of her Goodra, Slushy wasn't always willing to listen to her orders. But she definitely didn't want to have to deal with that in a pokemon battle in front of the entire student body.

"Well, no matter," Olivia shrugged. "Because I'm going to give this battle everything I've got! Come out, Cynthia! Let's show that girl just how cool of a performance we can put on!"

Olivia threw her pokeball out, sending her Garchomp into battle. The massive dragon pokemon let out a deafening roar, raising his bladed fins and stalking forward as the timer began counting down to mark the beginning of the match.

Olivia was on edge. She knew she wasn't the kind of trainer that was suited for battles. But this was a match that she was absolutely going to give it her all. She couldn't afford to lose, after all, she needed to make sure she did her best.

"Cynthia, let's start with a cool swords dance!" Olivia ordered.

"Garchomp!" Cynthia roared, raising her fins and striking them against each other. Her attacking strength soared and she charged forward.

"Screech," Serefina ordered.

"BANETTE!" Barneby shouted at the top of his lungs, startling Cynthia and lowering her defenses drastically.

"Ow!" Olivia winced, holding her ears in pain. But she wasn't going to let that stop her, or her pokemon! "Push through it, Cynthia! Use dragon claw!"

"Garchomp!" Cynthia lumbered forward at top speed. Electricity and lightning crackled through her claw, and she swung at Barneby, whose only response was a cackle and a maddening grin, not fazed in the least.

"Sucker punch," Serefina ordered.

"Banette!" Barneby shot forward and hit Cynthia in the jaw with a sucker punch that she didn't see coming, the hulking Garchomp stumbling back.

"Cynthia!" Olivia cried.

"That was quite an attack," Ian said,, giving a whistle. "I'm surprised, I would have thought that Olivia would have another avenue to strike back. Going in directly against a pokemon like that Banette is a risky endeavor if you're not prepared."

"Garchomp is a strong pokemon," Kanone said, looking at the battle with a critical eye. "But at the same time, as strong as it is, you need to use good care when battling with one. And it seems like Olivia Himeko doesn't have the experience to make full use of Garchomp's skills in battle. A pokemon like that… it's like someone with barely any driving ability being given a ferari. It's an unsuitable matchup, the question is, though, is will Garchomp's strength be enough to mitigate her own lack of battling ability?"

Olivia didn't like the way they were talking down to her, but she couldn't deny that she wasn't a trainer who was suited to pokemon battles. She pushed through those doubts, though, and focused her attention on fighting as hard as she could.

"That sucker punch was fine, Cynthia, shake it off!" She cried. "Use sandstorm!"

"Oh! That's a good way to get past the sucker punch," Kanone said, intrigued.

"Garchomp!" Cynthia raised her claws, and prepared to unleash a twister of sand, filling the field with swirling dust and debris.

But Serefina was prepared for that, too. "Barneby!" She called. "Use shadow sneak!"

"Bane!" Barnedby nodded, sinking into the ground and shooting towards Cynthia. He emerged from his shadow behind the dragon and raised his fist, striking her in the back.

Cynthia let out a groan of pain, but she didn't let it get the better of her. A massive tornado of sand shot out around her, sweeping up Barneby and battering him from all sides, pushing the small ghost away from the big, hulking dragon and removing all traces of visibility from the battlefield.

"Well, a sandstorm is going to make things a little difficult for us," Ian shouted over the buffeting winds, taking a look at the timer as it counted down. "After all, we can't see how the two pokemon perform if we can't see the battlefield!"

Olivia didn't care about that, though, the only thing on her mind was victory. "Cynthia!" She shouted. "Use crunch!"

As Barneby looked around for the approaching Garchomp, he failed to take into consideration Cynthia's Sand Veil. Due to her special ability she was able to conceal herself within the sandstorm, and reappeared behind Barneby while remaining mostly idden from the pokemons frantic gaze.

But he knew she was there rather quickly, before long.

"Garchomp!" Cynthia roared, opening her jaws wide and biting down on Barneby with everything she had, crushing him with the might force of her jaws.

"Barneby!" Serefina cried.

"BANETTTTTEE!" Barneby wailed, thrashing against the pain of Cynthia's sharp fangs. He struggled against her, but couldn't break through. The attack was too strong and the pain was too intense, and within a few seconds he had lost consciousness.

The sandstorm cleared and the victor was clear, Cynthia standing triumphantly over the vanquished Banette.

"I… I won?" Olivia asked, as if she couldn't believe it herself. That only lasted for a few moments, however, and she quickly returned to smiling triumphantly. "Yeah, that's right!" She crowed. "I won, yeah!"

"Nice work, Barneby," Serefina said, smiling. She recalled her Banette and turned to give Olivia some congratulations on her victory. "Olivia, that was an excellent- oh."

Olivia wasn't paying her any mind. She didn't care what Serefina thought about her fight, or even the praise for her victory. Right now, her attention was focused on only one thing.

"We did it, Cynthia!" Olivia cried, hugging her pokemon's scaly figure tightly. "We won an actual pokemon battle! I-I mean, I know it was just a weird technical battle, but still, we managed to win! We really did it!"

"Garchomp," Cynthia grunted, her teeth spreading into something that looked close to a savage grin. Olivia didn't seem to mind. Cynthia raised her claw and placed it on Olivia's shoulder, giving her a comforting pseudo-hug.

"…Well, that was quite a surprise," Kanone noted. "Although it was certainly a sweet one. She might not have been my pick to win, but I can't deny the effort she put in, that's for sure."

"I couldn't agree more," Ian said, nodding in agreement.

"She was fine," Akira said, shrugging her shoulders. "But that match went a little fast, if you ask me. Not that that's a bad thing, of course."

Olivia recalled her Garchomp to her pokeball and bounced offstage with a skip in her step. Serefina watched her go, a warm grin on her face. She turned and headed off the battlefield as well, leaving Lukas to once again retake the center.

"That was quite an interesting, if quick, battle!" Lukas said. "Although usually, a fight with a Garchomp is lot quicker and more one-sided, so that really speaks a lot for the caliber of trainer we're dealing with here! I can't say I don't think that this match was impressive, not at all!"

An excited grin crossed Lukas's face.

"But our next match is really going to be exciting, the last one of the first round of battles! And it's a match fought between two good rivals, Alcea Vermeil and Gabrielle Breaux! These two lovely ladies are both members of the Eight Leaders, and have had an ongoing rivalry since freshman year!"

"Her highness is going to win for sure!" Kate boasted. But even as she said that, she still felt a twinge of sympathy for the other girl. "…Though, I suppose Gabrielle is going to give her best, of course, which should be interesting… but her highness is going to win! For sure!"

"The last time they fought was in the Phantom Cup!" Lukas continued. "And Alcea emerged the victor! Will she continue her winning streak? Or will Gabrielle emerge on top this time? Which one of them will it be? We'll have to find out!"

"I already told you!" Kate shouted at him. "Her highness is going to win!"

While Lukas ignored Kate and continued talking up the match, the actual two girls in question weren't even prepared to go onstage yet.

They were both in Alcea's room, talking.

Ooooh, Alcea and Gabrielle are having a little conversation before the match begins? I wonder what that could be about…