In this chapter, we'll get a good look at Gabrielle's point of view, and we'll see what she's dealing with. What does she want with Alcea? How will it affect their match, which is the last one of the first round of the Coolness Competition? Surely an Ice type master like Gabrielle should be able to win the "Cool"ness Competition.

KedharS: Maybe. That would certainly be sweet.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 751

While Olivia and Serefina had been fighting, Alcea had been preparing for her match, when suddenly a knock on the door caught her attention. Curious, she rose to her feet and went to go see who it was. Most people would have been inclined to call out "come in" out of laziness, but Alcea was a woman of impeccable breeding; it would be rude of someone of her standing to not greet her guest face to face, after all!

And that was how she found herself looking at Gabrielle Breaux. The stoic girl had changed her outfit once again; no longer was she wearing an ice-blue dress, nor was she wearing a leotard for ice skating. Rather, she was wearing her normal clothes. Just a simple button-up flannel shirt and skinny jeans, not exactly the outfit of a girl who was dressed up for a beauty contest.

"Gabrielle," Alcea greeted her politely with a curtsy. "What a pleasant surprise, is it? Come to pay your respects before our battle?"

"…Something like that," Gabrielle murmured softly, nodding the slightest of nods. "May I come in, please?"

Alcea was surprised by the other girl's etiquette. Usually, Gabrielle was a cold, emotionless girl, not the kind of person to treat Alcea with anything more than hostility or apathy at best. And even though she still gave off that air…

Something seemed different. And that was more than enough for Alcea to agree to her request, stepping aside and letting Gabrielle enter.

"Is there something you needed?" Alcea asked. "How may I help you?"

Gabrielle wanted to say a lot of things right now. She had come to visit Alcea for one reason in particular, something that she had only recently grown to accept.

She had feelings for the other girl.

Alcea was pretty and elegant, the most beautiful woman Gabrielle had ever laid eyes on. Gabrielle… was not a girl who love came to easily. Her very first crush had been on a boy in her neighborhood who she had latched onto like a loyal Growlithe, following at his heels.

It had gone that way for a solid two years before she realized that she was in love with the cute boy, and wanted to be his girlfriend.

It had… not gone well.

That was when Gabrielle had another realization, that she was not the kind of person who was easy to be friends with. As she slowly became aware of the fact that she had no friends, she also felt how desperately she wanted them.

But for some reason it never seemed to work out. It might have been the fact that she was just so comfortable with silence, she never spoke her mind or put herself out there. Or maybe it was the fact that, when she did, it was usually to sternly rebuke someone she disagreed with. Maybe it was because she was too afraid to be hated to really open up to everyone.

Maybe, like most things, it was her mother's fault.

Not realizing the source of her feelings stemmed from her loneliness, she kept trying to make friends with people around her, but it just kept failing. Even now she didn't have anyone she could consider a friend.

Maybe if Gabrielle was someone else, she would have cried about her lack of friends. But she didn't. She just… felt bad. And envious. She wished she could be the kind of girl who could make friends with others, someone who people would look up to and idolize.

Someone like the woman she herself idolized, Alcea Vermeil.

Gabrielle wished she could be Alcea. Just looking at her, seeing how beautiful she was and how much people adored her, what did Alcea have that she didn't? Why was she able to make friends, while Gabrielle was alone?

Was it because she was the most amazing girl in the world? Gabrielle often believed that. But the truth was, Gabrielle didn't just want to be Alcea. She honestly wanted, well…

Again, she had feelings for the girl. Like all her previous crushes, it had snuck up on her before she had even realized it, and now here she was with her heart in her hand and trying to talk to her rival, trying to tell her…

Gabrielle wanted to tell her that she had a crush on her. She knew it now more than ever. She had joined this contest to get closer to Alcea, so that she could try to get to know the girl a little more and compete with her in more than pokemon battling.

Some competition, Alcea had nearly double her points.

But it was definitely fitting. Alcea was beautiful, after all, the performances she'd put on today were just what Gabrielle needed to get her heart pounding, and well up in her the urge to burst into song in praise of the other girl. Right now, she looked as gorgeous as ever, having changed out of her kimono and dressed up in her lovely red dress once again. Gabrielle was very good at keeping her emotions deep inside, and that was why she didn't let anyone take note of how her heart skipped a beat. She wasn't even going to blush.

If she was anyone else, that is. But right now, she knew that her feelings were real, and she wanted to act on them, even if it was pointless. She couldn't compete with Alcea in anything but pokemon battling, the other girl was cooler, prettier, more lovable, and probably smarter, too.

What could Gabrielle do that could compare to such a great woman, ice skate? Please.

Maybe that was why she was having difficulty spitting her feelings out. She felt so inferior just standing in Alcea's presence, knowing that there was nothing she could do that could even hold a candle to her. She was so used to keeping her feelings bottled up that it came naturally to her, and now it came even more naturally.

Was Gabrielle… scared? Scared of being rejected by Alcea? Maybe that was why she was so reluctant to tell her how she felt, because she knew what the other girl's answer was, and it wasn't the answer that she would want to hear.

After all, what would Alcea see in someone like her? There was no away that Alcea would reciprocate, she probably wouldn't even grant her the beautiful mercy of one date.

It stung to admit, but that was the world she was living in. If she had been a brighter person, then maybe her confession would work. Maybe she would be confident enough that she wouldn't even need to be worried, and the words would come out naturally. That's what she had hoped for when she'd come here. But now that she was here, standing in the other girl's presence, she didn't have the strength.

There was no way that the words would come out now, no matter how confident she had been beforehand.

Gabrielle nearly smiled at her failure.

"How may I help you?" Alcea had asked. What did Gabrielle want from her? That was absolutely obvious.

"Teach me how to be like you," Gabrielle wanted to say. But even that was too hard for her. She just couldn't put her best foot forward and ask Alcea for help. She didn't want to appear weak and vulnerable in front of the girl she liked.

Gabrielle took a deep breath. She needed to say something, the time was ticking down. If only she could put her thoughts to words, but no, there was no way she could. So she talked about the one other thing that was most important to her right now.

"We're going to fight in a short while," Gabrielle murmured.

Alcea blinked. "Oui, that is correct, is it?" Alcea said. "You and I will do battle in the first round. It will be our first match since the Phantom Cup, is it?"

Gabrielle nodded in agreement. "Yes, it is," she acknowledged. "Another chance for a battle. You and me."

It was only after the words had come out that she mentally slapped herself for not putting on a smile when she said that. It was a chance to get closer to the girl, show her a kind smile and prepare for the fight together, like a good rival. But smiling didn't come naturally to Gabrielle, so it had slipped her mind entirely. And it was too late now, so she might as well not bother.

While Gabrielle was beating herself up mentally, Alcea stared warily at the other girl, her focus devoted to trying to figure out what had brought Gabrielle to her doorstep. If it was just an acknowledgment that they would be fighting against each other, she hadn't needed to come all the way here to do that, there must have been something else.

She looked closely at Gabrielle. There was something she wanted, but she wasn't coming out with it. A lot of people considered Alcea to be a cold, harsh girl, but she was nothing compared to Gabrielle, who scarcely ever showed her emotions. Kate had said that she had seen Gabrielle cry once, but staring at her icy face made Alcea doubt that somehow, even if Kate wasn't the kind of person who would ever lie to her.

"So, we'll be battling, is it?" Alcea said, shrugging her shoulders. "I suppose it would be polite to wish you good-"

"Good luck," Gabrielle said, her voice just barely above a whisper. Alcea blinked, surprised. Once again, Gabrielle was more outgoing than she had expected. She looked adamantly at Alcea as she wished the other girl good luck. Those eyes were surprisingly deep.

A smile found itself spreading across Alcea's face. She couldn't help but grin at the acknowledgement of respect from her rival.

"Oui," she said, beaming elegantly at Gabrielle. "Good luck, is it?"

Alcea curtsied, then extended a hand out to Gabrielle. It was an unusual gesture from her, but it felt right. After all, the two were rivals. Normally, that rivalry manifested itself with Gabrielle being hostile and trying her best to defeat Alcea in anything. But right now, that rivalry was manifesting itself in a way it never had before, with Gabrielle honestly wishing the other girl good luck.

It made Alcea feel like the two of them were genuine rivals, and that was a very nice feeling. Gabrielle was a talented trainer, and she hoped that their relationship would become significantly less hostile in the future.

Right now, though, they were both feeling a little uncomfortable. Gabrielle had extended her wishes of good luck, but the two of them didn't really have anything else to talk about. Gabrielle had a lot of things to say, but they wouldn't come out. Meanwhile, Alcea was happy for what Gabrielle had said, but she didn't really have anything else to say herself.

So the two of them just stood there and stared at each other in awkward silence. Both girls knew it would be polite to say something, even just a positive exchange where Gabrielle excused herself and Alcea wished her the best. But neither said a word, when a small ding came over the speakers.

"Our next round!" Lukas declared over the loudspeaker. "Alcea Vermeil vs. Gabrielle Breaux! Ladies, please come out and show us what you girls are capable of for our final opening round!"

Gabrielle and Alcea flinched a little at the sudden call-out over the intercom, and looked at each other tensely. It was the kind of circumstance that would make them burst out laughing at the awkwardness if they were any other duo, but they were Gabrielle and Alcea so they said nothing, gave each other a tense not, and exited Alcea's dressing room.

Gabrielle felt surprisingly better as she crossed the stage, feeling the heat of the spotlight shining down on her. For some reason, she felt so much more comfortable being out here, in front of all these people, than she felt in the dressing room with Alcea.

Those people in the audience were nothing to her; Alcea's eyes were the only ones she wanted to watch her. And she was going to show that right now by taking the lead and fighting her hardest, hopefully defeating Alcea.

"Froslass, go," Gabrielle said sharply, tossing out her pokeball. Her Froslass emerged, a mournful song rising from within her throat.

"Oui, Froslass, is it?" Alcea nodded. "I would expect no less! Venus!"

Alcea flung her pokeball through the sky, and the ball capsule flashed and shimmered, releasing a cloud of flower petals as her Venusaur emerged, landing on the stage with a crash. Froslass vs. Venusaur, two of their best pokemon would duke it out.

"Venusaur!" Venus bellowed, bearing down and flexing her flower.

Gabrielle was prepared. She was going to seize control of this match right from the beginning. "Froslass, use taunt!" She ordered.

"Froslass!" Froslass howled, raising her hands and beckoning at Venus, a spectral aura surging around her.

"Venusaur!" Venus growled, falling for the taunt. She seethed with anger and prepared to attack the freezing pokemon.

"Perfect," Gabrielle murmured under her breath. She had lost last time because Alcea had had the chance to control the weather, and overpowered her hail with the powerful sunlight. But now, Gabrielle wasn't even going to give her that chance. By using taunt, there was nothing Alcea could do but assign fighting moves to her pokemon!

If Alcea was bothered by the limitations put upon her pokemon, then her natural elegance and grace did an exceptional job of concealing it. "Venus!" She called. "Use hidden power!"

"Venusaur!" Venus bellowed, opening her mouth and creating several orbs of light. She fired them at the Froslass, and the orbs burst into flames as they flew towards her, preparing to light the Ice type pokemon on fire. But there was no hope of that; Gabrielle had prepared for that, too, of course, and was ready to make use of Froslass's natural abilities.

"Hail," she ordered. Froslass held her hands up, and dark clouds gathered overhead, snow and hail raining down on the battlefield. Froslass floated back and blended in with the heavy snowfall, disappearing from sight as the orbs of fire pass through where she had been floating just moments before.

Alcea wasn't deterred. "Venus!" She called. "Magical leaf!"

"Venusaur!" Venus spread her flower wide, and shook her leaves. A cloud of rainbow-colored leaves burst up from her body, wrapping around her and flying through the air at Froslass, even though the pokemon was hidden from sight. The shimmering magical leaves struck Froslass, causing the pokemon to let out a gasp of pain. It was also precisely what Alcea needed to lay her eyes on the other pokemon, and that was enough to strike.

"Now, seed bomb," she ordered. Venus lowered her back and fired a massive seed in the direction she had seen the Froslass. The seed shot out and burst into even more seeds, unleashing a barrage of explosions that shook the fragile pokemon.

Gabrielle scowled. That had been unexpected, but she wasn't about to fall to that! "Froslass," she called, "blizzard."

"Froslass!" Froslass's haunting voice echoed from deep within the hailstorm, and the wind and snow began to increase in intensity. She rose her arms and sent a massive blizzard rolling across the battlefield, the strength of the weather being brought to bear on Venus.

But Alcea was prepared to fight back with a blizzard of her own. "Petal blizzard," she ordered, Venus flinging a massive barrage of razor-sharp petals out at the large snowstorm coming her way. The two bursts struck each other like waves, neither pokemon getting hurt.

And that was the opening Alcea needed. "Bulldoze," she ordered.

Venus stomped on the ground and sent out a shockwave that slammed into Froslass, knocking her over and reducing her speed. That was an effective way of limiting the Ghost type pokemon's speed, giving Venus the chance to hunt her down and strike before the other pokemon could try to escape into the snow again.

"Sludge bomb," she ordered. That brought a chorus of gasps out from the crowd. Venus bellowed and opened her mouth, an orb of toxic sludge building up in front of her. She tilted her head back and spat it, the giant sludge orb hitting Froslass directly and dousing her in tons of venomous poison.

"She's using sludge bomb and not a Grass type move?" Cynthia asked in surprise. "I would have thought she would use a Grass type move because of how excellent she is with them. What's the idea of using sludge bomb?"

"It goes without saying," Kate snorted. "Of course she would use sludge bomb! Poison attacks are the best, after all!"

Cynthia ignored Kate, and glanced at Blake, the only person she expected to have some insight into this, Blake.

"Maybe she doesn't want the risk of her Grass type moves being countered by freezing snow," Blake suggested, not sure she knew much more than Cynthia did. "Sludge bomb might be easier to freeze, I guess?"

"You guys have totally forgotten!" Kate scowled, turning to the two of them and crossing her arms over her chest in indignity. "Take a look!"

There was a lull in the hail. Froslass rose up and hovered over the battlefield, shaking. Deep poison was seeping through her kimono, and she was already starting to feel the effects.

"There, you see?" Kate proclaimed triumphantly. "By using sludge bomb, she managed to infect that Froslass with an incredible poison! And now, she'll be able to use the venoshock move I taught her to do even more massive damage!"

Gabrielle could tell that, of course. She knew that Froslass was in rough shape, but she wasn't worried. Froslass had a lot of strength left in her, and was just about ready to counterattack. "Froslass, use ice beam," she quickly ordered.

"Froslass!" Froslass opened her mouth and firde a swift beam of icy energy, hitting Venus directly and causing the Venusaur to cry out in pain. That move had just inflicted a serious amount of damage to Venus.

"Venus!" Alcea called out, her voice doing an excellent job of concealing her worry. "Prepare to counter, before she can disappear!"

Alcea should have kept her mouth shut, though, because just as the words escaped her lips, Froslass disappeared into the haze. Her face darkened again. "Never mind, strike her with your magical leaf again!"

"Venus," Venus nodded, preparing more rainbow-colored leaves, but before she could fire them off she received a powerful blizzard right in the face. Unlike with petal blizzard, magical leaf didn't have enough strength to counter it.

A worried look crossing her face, Kate turned her attention back to the stage and called out to her idol, "milady! Don't worry, Venus still has a lot of strength remaining!"

Alcea heard her words, and they made her smile, but Kate didn't need to worry. She was more than prepared.

Gabrielle felt the same way, they both expected they would win this. Those last two Ice type attacks had drastically weakened the Venusaur, a few more and she would win!

"Come on, milady!" Kate continued cheering on her idol. "You've almost won the match, just a little bit more and you'll be able to-"

Kate's voice was drowned out by the timer ringing out. Gabrielle flinched in shock and her eyes shot over to the screen, where the timer flashed zero.

She mentally cursed. She had been preparing to strike a counterattack, but she had run out of time. The timer had slipped her mind completely. If she had remembered, then she would have taken it into consideration. But she had been so focused on showing off for Alcea how strong she was, it had slipped her mind.

Both girls recalled their pokemon, and Gabrielle waited for the judges to make their decision.

"Alcea had the better showing overall," Akira determined. "Gabrielle's Froslass probably did more damage, but I think Alcea's Venusaur was up against the worse odds, and being able to put up that much of a fight is something worth considering."

"I disagree," Ian said. "I think that overall, Gabrielle had the stronger strategy. She clearly had a plan, fighting through the hail and weakening her opponent with powerful Ice type moves, it was definitely a… 'cool' performance, perfect for the Coolness Competition."

Gabrielle's eye twitched. She appreciated the consideration, but if she heard that pun one more time she was going to scream.

Everything fell down to Kanone's decision. All the eyes turned to him as he considered carefully, a relaxed smile on his face. Gabrielle didn't hold much expectation; conversely, Alcea was brimming with hope, even while keeping a composed look on her face. She wanted so desperately for Kanone to acknowledge her strength.

So Kanone is the tiebreaker! Who will he cast his vote for? Who do you think had the better performance in this match?