With the conclusion of the Coolness Competition, the Miss Pokemon Academy Contest has reached its final stage. Only one competition remains, the Toughness Competition! What will the Toughness Competition entail? What are our girls feel, going into this last round?

KedharS: The finals should hopefully be really exciting.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 757

Sango and Alcea were a little confused about why Lukas had told them to head off the stage, because he was going to be leading them back in anyway. They both waited awkwardly in the wings as the other girls gathered around them.

The looks on their faces were… complicated.

This was the final competition, after all. Which meant that the maximum amount of points left to be gained were 10. Because of that, simple math told a sad story.

Lila, Serefina, and Gabrielle had all unofficially lost the contest; even if they came in first in the next competition, they wouldn't be able to win the overall contest.

And yet, none of them looked all that sad about it, which was strange in its own right. They looked rather… normal.

Lila was the actress she always was, putting on a big smile filled with cheer, but Sango suspected that it was a look that hide some inner frustrations. And that was rather hard to bear, because she was the one who had knocked the girl out of the contest herself. She whispered a silent apology to the other girl, still feeling like shit.

It must have been showing on her face, because Lila glanced at her and smiled warmly. "Don't worry," she smiled. "There's nothing you need to worry about! This contest is getting really exciting, don't you think?"

Sango smiled a little, she appreciated the girl's attempt to cheer her up, even though she was the one who deserved to have someone cheer her up herself.

Meanwhile, Serefina was smiling warmly herself. As someone who hadn't been all that invested in this contest to begin with, and had pretty much just been nominated due to having the biggest boobs on campus, she didn't exactly care if she was nominated as "Miss Pokemon Academy". In fact, privately, she was relieved that she wasn't going to win, that would have only drawn more attention to her, and she wasn't exactly the kind of girl who loved that sort of thing. She wasn't Olivia after all, she didn't like the idea of people drooling over her body.

She would much rather just do the best she could, and be satisfied with the results of her hard work. That was how she faced the world normally, after all. With a bright smile, trying her best to succeed or fail.

Simply put, she didn't care if she won.

Gabrielle was the same way. Her face was locked in the stoic mask that it always was; this contest had just been about standing on the same stage as Alcea, getting closer to her, and showing herself off in front of the girl she liked.

She actually trying really hard to keep her face from showing emotions not because she was sad about losing, but rather because she was trying to keep a big bright smile off of her face at the joy that Alcea had asked her to be friends.

Friends. She was friends with Alcea Vermeil. She had to bite her tongue to keep from grinning like a fool, something that would look utterly disgusting on her face. She shook her head and cleared her thoughts, taking a deep breath.

She didn't care, she was just trying to finish this up so she could go scream with joy into her pillow. It was odd, feeling this much emotion coming out of her, it was like she couldn't keep it contained, overjoyed as she was.

A few more deep breaths. She needed to calm down.

So yes, only 5 girls actually had a chance at winning. Alcea, of course, was almost certain to place high, given how high her score was above most other girls. Even if she got no points in the next round, she was guaranteed to get at least fifth place. Olivia wasn't far behind her, and had just as much of a chance at winning.

Not that you could tell. With only 30 points, she should have been happy. And if one looked at her, they certainly might think so. But for Ayame, who knew her best friend well, she could see the seething anger in Olivia's joyful smile. The look of contempt and rage burning in her eyes. She had used makeup to conceal the puffiness of her cheeks and the redness of her eyes from her outraged crying, but even an amazing actress like her couldn't conceal everything.

Ayame was concerned for her friend. She let out a sigh, and shook her head. She could understand why Olivia was upset, but she didn't want her to feel bad. She wanted to reach out to her friend and give her a comforting hug, but now wasn't the right time. She just had to hope that when everything sorted itself out, Olivia wouldn't be throwing a tantrum and would be able to accept the results with a gracious smile on her face.

In other words, Ayame was hoping that Olivia would win, because that was basically the only scenario she could picture that happening.

Indeed, Olivia was seething as she smiled at Alcea. The momentary rush she'd received from Alcea's acknowledgment had completely passed her by, and now she was filled with rage again. Three points? She was three points behind Alcea? Unacceptable. She glanced at Sango. It was unreasonable of her to be mad at Sango for losing, of course she knew that.

At the same time, she couldn't help herself.

Would it have been so hard for Sango to just win? Really? Then Alcea would only have been one point ahead of her in the contest, instead of three. She could have accepted being just one point behind the other girl.

…Okay, well, she wouldn't have accepted that, either, but it was more the principle of the damn thing, Sango should have tried harder to win!

Olivia let out a sigh and clapped her hands together. "This next match is going to be the deciding result!" She announced to everyone, unnecessarily. Every girl there knew that, of course, and the only girls who had a chance of winning were feeling rather uncomfortable about the looks the other girls were giving them.

Or maybe it was just Sango. She was definitely getting a serious case of imposter syndrome right now. She was tied for third? Seriously? She was tied with Ayame Toujou? Darla Drake?! It defied belief, she couldn't understand it.

Ayame was the prince of the track team, a tomboy who drew the eyes of countless people with her handsome smile and cool demeanor, and the eyes she drew to her the most were Blake's, of course, because of how great she was.

And Darla? Darla was an idol! She performed on stages to the applause of the student body, she had hundreds of fans, thousands, probably, and a promising career in the idol industry. A beautiful girl who everyone loved!

And Sango was supposed to be considered on the same level as those two beauties? What the actual fuck? It didn't make any sense. Sango was just some nobody ranger, she didn't deserve to fight on the same level as those girls.

And it didn't help that the only reason it had happened was because she had somehow managed to sneak her way into a winning situation due to receiving Kanone's Samurott and being allowed to use her in the Coolness Competition. Sammy's pokeball burned hot in her hand, and she squeezed it tightly, like she was squeezing her heart to get it to stop pounding so intensely.

She didn't want to be here, she felt like she had cheated. She'd gotten 8 points when she should have gotten 4. Ayame should be where she was right now, or maybe Lila. They both should have placed higher than she did. Now she was tied with one, and the other had been knocked out of the contest entirely.

It would have been fine if she had lost, right? If she had only gotten 4 points? That would have put her at 24. Not the best score, but certainly respectable. She would have had a chance of winning, getting first in the toughness contest and the other girls, well… they probably would have had to get really low, and Alcea would have had to get no points.

But the point was, it WAS possible! So why couldn't it have shaken out that way? Sango wouldn't have felt so awful if that situation had happened.

With a sigh, she shook her head and massaged her temples, wishing that she didn't have to be here right now, wishing she could give Kanone his Samurott back and then run for the hills, never looking back at this horrible, ridiculous competition.

But she knew that she couldn't. After all, she wasn't going to give up. She had made that decision already, that she had fought her hardest in order to win, for the sake of everyone who believed in her. Even though most of the Ranger Course students had been distant recently, working on a special project of some sort (probably clearing the melting snow off the mountains) she still felt an intense connection to them, and wanted to show them she could do her best.

She wanted to win, too. Even if she didn't fully think she deserved it, whenever she felt a pang of doubt in her chest she remembered what Olivia had told her before the Cuteness Competition, about how being cute was in the eye of the beholder.

Sango agreed. Sango thought that she could win. She thought that maybe, just maybe, she could be the Miss Pokemon Academy after all.

So why the heck was she doubting herself right now? Why wasn't what her mind was telling her convincing her heart? Her brain was yelling at her emotions until it was red in the face, but nothing was convincing the dumb thing!

She felt miserable, and like a cheater. Even though she knew she wasn't. It was a miserable feeling, and she just wanted to know what was going to happen in the next competition, the final competition. It was a Toughness Competition, so maybe…

Maybe it was something that she could succeed at. Sango was tough. She may not have been Beautiful. She may not have been all that Cool. Her "Cuteness" was something that only spoke to a small group of people, and as her non-Ranger grades proved, she definitely wasn't "Smart".

But she was Tough. No one could argue that she wasn't. Unless you were talking about in an emotional sense, in which case she would probably fold like a cheap napkin. A cheap napkin soaked all the way through, and would probably be shredded into powder if you tried to fold it. But yeah, in a physical sense, she was definitely tough! And she was going to show everyone how tough she was, if given a chance.

…She really, really hoped it was the physical kind of tough the competition would be about, and not an emotional or mental tough. Otherwise she might as well throw in the towel right now, and head home because she was definitely screwed.

The loudspeaker buzzed, and it looked like Sango was about to get that wish of hers for understanding what would happen.

"And now, before we begin the last competition, I want to take a moment to congratulate our lovely young ladies on their hard work throughout this entire contest!" Lukas declared. "Let's greet our girls one last time! Come out, ladies!"

That was the cue. The girls lined up in order from most points to least points accumulated, with Alcea at the head of the line.

Olivia was clearly miffed about having to find her. But she kept her face locked in a silent stare, with a wide smile to accentuate it. No sense in letting her real emotions show.

The girls headed out in order, walking out onto the stage to greet the cheering audience. The clapping and cheers drowned out the sounds of Sango's beating heart, and she swallowed tensely as the lights of the stage greeted her.

Lining up space out from each other, the girls stared out into the crowd of people. Sango couldn't be the only one here who was feeling nervous, she just couldn't be. But she still felt like she was, sorry as it was to say.

"Hello, ladies, are we getting excited for the next, and final, competition in the Miss Pokemon Academy?" Lukas asked, walking over to them with an eager smile on his face, his eyes shining with excitement.

The girls collectively nodded, even though Sango was anything but excited. She was tense and worried, and wanted to just get this whole mess over with.

"That's what I like to see, all our girls are teaming with enthusiasm!" Lukas declared, even though it was pretty clearly not the case. "And why shouldn't they be? We only have one last competition left, the Toughness Competition! This competition will determine not just who the toughest of our ladies are, it will let us know who our next Miss Pokemon Academy will be!"

The girls tried to seem excited, at least the ones who really cared about the contest. But Sango wasn't among that number.

She was way too worried about things to be excited.

Luckily, her friends were there to be excited for her.

"A Toughness Competition?" Cynthia asked, squirming excitedly in her seat. "That's gonna be a great competition for Sango! She's one of the toughest girls around, she's absolutely going to win! I can't wait to see!"

"Sango definitely is tough," Blake had to admit. "But don't forget, Aya has the same amount of points as she does, and she's really tough herself, definitely tougher than Sango. I feel sorry to say it, but Sango is definitely not going to be able to win against Aya."

Cynthia scowled, but she didn't let her emotions get the better of her. "We'll see about that," she scoffed. "I mean, in my eyes, she's a lot more soft and sensitive rather than tough, if you ask me," she said, her eyes flashing with a giggle. "And I think you would know about that a lot better than me, don't you agree?" She teased.

Blake rolled his eyes. Cynthia couldn't be sure about it in the dark like this, but she thought she saw his cheeks light up with embarrassment. It brought a giggle to her lips, and she fell back in her seat, snickering.

"Whatever," Kate scoffed, calling the attention of everyone else to her. She wore a smug grin with her arms crossed over her chest, sitting up higher in her seat and glaring at them. "It doesn't matter anyway. After all, her highness is going to be the one who wins in the end, since she's the strongest, toughest, and most beautiful girl around! So there!" She proclaimed. "That Sango won't stand a chance against someone of her level!"

"Hey, come on," Cynthia scowled. "Don't talk about our friend like that! Who the heck do you think you are-?!"

"Cynthia," Blake interrupted, raising his hand. He gave her a look that said "let me handle this", and then turned to Kate with a smile. "Look, Kate-"

"What?" Kate griped, glaring at him.

"I understand that you want Alcea to win, really, I do," Blake said, trying to be diplomatic about this, even as he was about to mess with her. "The amount of faith you have in her is really admirable, you know? You're a really great girl, and I think how much you cheer for Alcea is really cute, I just wanted to tell you."

Kate's eyes bugged out of her skull and her mouth flopped open, flapping around to search for a response as her cheeks reddened. "That's… well, I mean… um…"

Cynthia had to admit that as much as she thought it was a little bit mean, seeing Blake tease her like that and seeing Kate turn scarlet in embarrassment and flattery as her past feelings for Blake seized up in her heart, she had to admit that it was rather cute seeing her get so embarrassed and flustered. She had a new idea of how to get the toxic girl to shut her mouth.

Meanwhile, Kate's brain was in the middle of reprocessing.

Blake is complimenting me. He called me cute. Absolutely not, no way he would say that! After all, he already turned me down, so why is he trying to be so sweet to me?! Unless… it's certainly not because he has any feelings for me! Or that he's breaking up with Ayame Toujou, no, that's simply not possible! So why would he ever say that?! Unless… has he recently come around on things? No… could it be? It couldn't…

"Blake! You womanizer!" Kate bitterly snapped at him. "If you want to… do things with me, then I'm not going to be some piece on the side! I have a whole lot more self-respect than that, you hear me?! So you can keep your sick ideas to yourself, and properly break up with your girlfriend before I'm willing to… t-to… get in your… NO!"

Blake rolled his eyes. "Kate, I was just giving you a compliment," he lied. Okay, really I was just teasing you. "Don't worry, I don't have any intentions like that, okay?"

Kate made a face like someone had poured weed killer on her Vileplume. "…O-Oh," she mumbled, looking down. "…Well, why not?!"

Blake groaned. He was NOT about to have this conversation.

All his attention turned back to the stage as Lukas continued the announcements.

"And now, let me show you all what the Toughness Competition will be about!" Lukas said, turning to the screen. "How convenient that this is the last competition of our contest! Because this is the one that will take place in another location!"

The girls began glancing at each other and murmuring curiously. That was a new note. They would be going somewhere?

The audience also seemed a little intrigued.

"Let's take a look!" Lukas said, and the screen began to change, showing a picture of the wilderness. A particular landscape, actually, the mountain ridges behind the pokemon academy, a location on their own island. The snow had thawed, and the green of spring was returning to the mountain.

"What's that about?" Sango heard someone in the audience ask as she tried to figure out the same thing herself.

"The Toughness Competition is a rather simple contest," Lukas explained, a mischievous glimmer in his eye. "Our young ladies will be competing to see which one of them is the toughest girl there, and the way they do it will be simple! They'll be completing this obstacle course up the mountainside, to get to the peak! And the girl who manages to climb to the top of the mountain first, will be the winner of the Toughness Competition!"

Sango's jaw dropped open as the crowd's gasps and immediate discussions drowned out her confused gasps and pounding heart.

She was climbing a mountain? An obstacle course?

That was the Toughness Competition?

Sango shook her head in disbelief, her eyes widening.

Maybe Sango winning wasn't out of the question after all.

So, the final competition of the Miss Pokemon Academy Contest is a mountain climbing test! The kind of competition Sango was made for! Will she be able to win after all? Let's see this competition firsthand in our next chapter!