The Toughness Competition finally begins! Our lovely young ladies are going to attempt the obstacle course, how far will they get? Who will win? It's gonna be quite a game!

KedharS: Maybe, Ayame might give her a run for her money.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: The Toughness Competition is going to begin here!

Pokemonking0924: It definitely is an interesting question, that's for sure. Who will win, and how good will they do?

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 760

When Erik announced the start of the Toughness Competition, Ayame took off like a rocket, charging into the obstacle course with her Wooloo hot on her heels.

No one was surprised that Ayame was taking an early lead, that was her talent, of course. She was the fastest girl on campus, and she was showing it off, her club members cheering her on from the Milotic Dome, and Blake cheering her louder than anyone.

But Ayame wasn't unchallenged in her surge ahead. Sango was right behind her in her own lane, her eyes focused forward, running as fast as she could. She and Ayame had had a few races in the past, and they hadn't… gone well.

…No, that was an understatement. To be more accurate, Ayame had trounced her every time. Sango was always trailing behind her in everything, even love.

But not in this. Sango wasn't about to lose to the athletic girl again. Ayame was her friend, but that didn't matter right now. Sango needed to win. She didn't realize it until they were running, but she needed to win.

Ayame had everything. She was an amazing girl who deserved the world, of course, Sango didn't deny that at all. But she had Blake. She had a promising career as a Pokeathlete, and the adoration of all her club mates, and most of the school as well. Her best friend was one of the four Daevas, and looked after her completely.

And Sango? Sango was a girl with no romantic prospects, a shaky future as a Pokemon Ranger due to some questionable decisions she had made, and while she had friends, she wasn't adored the way Ayame was. And her best friend was a toss-up between a pervert, a boy she was in an unrequited love for, and a girl whose brain was 90% fish.

Ayame didn't need the win like Sango did, and Sango was going to prove that she deserved it! She tucked her chin in and lowered her head, increasing her stride as she approached the first obstacle, a series of tires set up to bounce through.

When facing an obstacle course, a lot of people would tend to back down and go slowly so they could be certain that they made it through the obstacles without getting hurt. But Sango knew that wasn't the right move. If you knew what to do for the obstacle, then you pick up the pace! And Sango had done tires before.

Her eyes slid to the side to confirm, and she could see that Ayame was still ahead, already going through the tires one foot at a time, not slowing down for a second. Her Wooloo was bouncing from tire to tire as well, following loyally after her trainer as one would expect.

Sango would do the same. She stepped from tire to tire, knowing that if her foot caught even once there was a high likelihood that she would be out of the contest. Sango knew that Ayame wasn't going to slow down or fall, she couldn't count on her friend's mistakes. And even if she could, she didn't want to win that way.

She wanted to do her best.

She finished moving through the tires, and the next obstacle she faced was the a large mounted wooden stand, presented with several rope swings in a long line, boards swinging slowly side to side. It was another tricky one. She looked over her shoulder towards Silver, who nodded in agreement.

This, though, this was one that she would need to slow down on. She took her time to pace herself, needing to bounce from swing to swing carefully in order to make sure she didn't fall into the mud below, that would probably be another loss.

…Sango had no idea WHY there was mud down there, she assumed that was an act of the Sarge to just mess with people, he was casually cruel like that to the people he was training like a drill sergeant, much to her irritation.

But she wasn't going to give into something like that.

Ayame was still ahead, moving cautiously through the ropes. Sango wasn't about to give her the chance to get further ahead! She took the first rope into her hands, planting her feet on the board, and began to lean forward.

While Sango was doing her best, her friends were cheering eagerly for her from the Milotic Dome. Well, most of them were, anyway, but the one she wanted to cheer her on the most sadly wasn't. Blake was cheering for Ayame, of course, and she was glad that she couldn't hear that from where she was. The painful reality was, the two of them were competing against each other…

Hearing Blake cheer on his girlfriend over her would have broken her heart. And now wasn't the time for a broken heart.

Cynthia was a little miffed that Blake was rooting for Ayame over Sango as well, but she begrudgingly accepted that was just how it was. So she made sure to cheer extra hard for her bestie. She would have liked to cheer for Serefina, but she knew that even if she did, it wasn't like Serefina was going to win anyway, so there was no point.

Serefina would have to settle for being the Miss Pokemon Academy of Cynthia's heart! …Or her loins, whatever. Same thing really.

But that was why she was cheering for Sango, because she really, really wanted her best friend to win. Sango was doing her best, and Cynthia wanted to see that effort rewarded. Sango really did deserve it, after all, and Cynthia hoped that she would. It wasn't wrong of her to root for her friend to win, Serefina would definitely understand.

Besides, Cynthia was rooting for Serefina to fall in the mud and get those clothes all dirty and muddy so she could imagine that body mud wrestling, that was basically the same as cheering for her as well, right?

Right.

"Come on, Sango!" Cynthia shouted, throwing her hand in the air in a cheering fist. "You can do it, we believe in you!"

"G-GOOO!" Kitty shouted at the top of her lungs. The tiny squeak was totally drowned out by the cheers around her, Cynthia loud enough to dwarf three or four Kitty's, maybe more.

Kate wasn't going to lose out on the cheering front, either. She was shouting as loud as she could, rooting for Alcea. She could sympathize with the others, wanting Sango to win. Kate may have been miserable about it due to her loyalty to Alcea, but honestly, Kate understood where they were coming from, and where Sango was coming from, too.

She could understand the girl all too well, as annoying as it was. Sango was a lot like her. It was what had earned her the soft spot she held in Kate's bitter, venomous heart. Sango was a girl who not a lot of people found attractive. That wasn't an insult, Kate had heard it straight from the other girl's mouth. And Kate knew that she probably didn't feel like she belonged at a contest like this, she knew that because Kate certainly would have felt out of place herself, standing up there and doing the best that she could. It just wasn't the kind of thing that girls like her were capable of.

And at the same time, she knew what it was like to hate something like that, to be disgusted by the fact that people don't want to see her compete in beauty contests. And she admired that Sango was trying her best in spite of that. She envied Sango. None of her friends would have cheered her on if she was out there, because she didn't have any.

Maybe if things were different, and Sango winning wouldn't come at the expense of her highness losing, maybe Kate would have cheered her on and wanted her to win, too. Even now, watching the boyish girl doing her best, hair matting to her head as she forewent any sort of makeup or beauty to focus entirely on the athletic movements forward, she could understand so much and still feel part of her wanting Sango to win.

But she wouldn't let those things seize her. Because she couldn't wish for Sango to win, she couldn't cheer for the dowdy girl trying her best, because she needed to support her highness, and cheer Alcea on until the end!

"Please, queen of queens!" Kate exclaimed. "You can win!"

The rose queen was making a surprisingly good time given her state of dress. Having dressed not so differently from her normal uniform in a flowery red dress with tall socks, it looked more like she was dressed to go dancing on a fancy date than climbing a mountain. But right now, she was still a vision, a vision not only of loveliness but persistence. She was wearing flats instead of heels, her one surrender to practicality, and it was making a world of difference.

With her Roserade running behind her, Alcea was actually making admirable progress. Of course, she wasn't nearly as far ahead of Ayame and Sango, only just now getting to the tires, but she was still making good time, closer to the head of the pack than the rear. She was vying for third with Gabrielle and Darla, both girls very athletic, and Alcea was surprisingly so as well.

Kate felt a smug smirk cross her face. Of course her highness would be doing well, she hadn't spent all that time on that island for nothing! Alcea wasn't just another pretty face, she was quite skilled and quite the athlete! Kate was cheering her on with everything she had.

Alcea moved from tire to tire like she was dancing, for that's what it was, a dance. Having learned the art of dance from a very young age, she knew all about the importance of footwork, and moved step by step through each tire, clearing it without even brushing one rubbery rim.

But then came the next obstacle, the ropes. Here, she might fall and get dirty, and that would be a bit of a problem. But Alcea didn't seem to care. She took to the rope swings easily, moving between them like a ghost as she crossed from swing to swing, approaching the other side with such fluidity it was astonishing.

The reason was, similar to the tires, this was another series of movements that a dancer could handle easily. And that was the reason Darla was making great progress herself, hot after Alcea while Gabrielle had begun to slow down.

The real surprise was Lila, though.

Sure, Lila had complained. She's whined. She'd bargained and tried to cheat, coming up with as many reasons as she could to not have to follow things correctly.

But at the end of the day, while she wasn't a skilled runner, that wasn't nearly the same as saying she was a bad athlete. After all, she had gone through all the same practices that Darla had. She had stood on that stage just the same, performing side by side with the girl and acting out her dances with flawless perfection.

Lila was skilled and she was tough. It just didn't show because that wasn't her character. She had worked hard to be a top idol, and it was her dream, and now she was putting those movements and practices to work in order to seize the lead!

"Yes, perfect!" She cheered, passing the tires flawlessly, hoisting her Morelull in the air with pride. "We made it through!" She took to the next obstacle and immediately went pale in the face. Gross. Now she had to deal with the mud.

Lila wanted to cry, she was so disgusted. She shivered, and shook her head, nope, this was too much for her.

"Lulll?" Lila glanced down at Shine, the small Morelull in her arms. The pokemon looked up at her with eager, questioning eyes, and she sighed.

"You want to, huh?" She asked, resigned.

"More!" Shine said, nodding eagerly.

"Well, hold on tight, then," Lila said, a small smile crossing her face at the thought of the armless pokemon being able to "hold on" to something. She squeezed her tightly and got onto the rope, surprised at how easy it was for her to keep her balance. After all, she was a dancer, she knew all about how to keep her balance.

Maybe this wouldn't be as hard as she thought?

Olivia, on the other hand, was doing quite poorly, something that was starting to get frustrating. In spite of her hard work for her performances, those were scripted events that she planned out, and practiced to perfection. Her body wasn't suited for obstacle courses, that was being made readily apparent. She was no athlete.

Olivia tried to move through the tires, and did well enough, Belle following along behind her. She was able to move through at a surprisingly decent pace; the problem was, a surprisingly decent pace wasn't enough for her.

She needed to win, after all.

Olivia was seeing red. Everywhere she looked, flashes of red before her eyes, right ahead of her. Alcea Vermeil, dressed in that pretty dress, looking every bit as beautiful as she always did, running arrogantly ahead of her like she was somehow better, because SHE could run in that dress and Olivia wasn't nearly at that level.

Olivia refused to allow her pride to be tarnished like that. She picked up her pace and kept pursuing the other girl, even as her lungs burned like she'd swallowed fire. She wanted nothing less than to catch Alcea, to pass her, she was certain she could win the tournament for the fourth time in a row, she was CERTAIN of it!

It had been easy, those previous years, even when Alcea had competed. It had never been in question that she was deserving of the title of Miss Pokemon Academy. Right now, though, she was working harder than she ever had in order to stay competitive; by this point in past contests her victory was all but assured.

It was the thrill of challenge that brought a smile to Olivia's lips, even as enraged as she was. This competition was certainly exciting, she couldn't deny that. It almost reminded her of the rush she felt in Pokemon Contests, only without the feeling of pride in showing off her best. After all, this current performance wasn't something she was all that pleased about.

Maybe this was what Aya felt when she was competing, whether in Pokeathlons or on the track herself; the feeling of pushing her body to her limit and doing the best she could, while people cheered her performance on from the stands, it wasn't that different from a Pokemon Contest or walking the catwalk, was it?

…Well, it was different in the sense that those activities didn't hurt nearly this much. Olivia had devoted herself to beauty, and as loathe as she was to admit it, her physical endurance had taken a bit of a hit along the way, no matter how much yoga she did to keep her waist trim.

What small bit of pride she could salvage was the fact that she wasn't in last place. No, that was Serefina, pulling up the rear with her Banette; it wasn't that Serefina was in bad shape or anything like that, but, well…

Similarly with Olivia, her body made athleticism, specifically running, not exactly the easiest thing to embrace. Two very important parts of her body, at any rate, and she didn't exactly like showing them off all that much. Maybe if she was like Olivia and still had a chance of winning she might have put some more effort into it, but she wasn't going to give those leering eyes in the audience something to drool over for nothing.

And besides, she liked saving her energy for looking after pokemon, not for showing off in contests like this. So she just moved at a normal jogging pace, not making too big of a deal about this whole thing; it was all in good fun, after all.

The girls were making good progress through the obstacle course. Sango had made it to the climbing wall at almost the same time that Ayame did, much to her joy. Ayame was just fastening her harness when Sango got there.

"Sango!" Ayame said, smiling brightly at the girl. "Do you do stuff like this all the time in the Ranger Course? I gotta say, I think I'm missing out! Foof and I, and the rest of my team, we could all get in some good practice with this!"

Sango didn't respond with words, giving a sharp nod. She was honestly kind of pissed off. In her effort to catch up to Ayame, Sango had been running herself ragged, pushing her legs as hard as she could and now she was breathing hard, she could barely get out two words without breaking out into a coughing fit, and here Ayame was talking like she wasn't even winded. It was the most infuriating thing in the world, seeing how much better of a runner Ayame was compared to her.

Sango's hard work and hours spent jogging daily didn't measure up to Ayame's natural talent, sad as it was. But that didn't mean Sango had to give up!

A shaky smile spread across her lips as she looked up at the wall stretching above their heads, and grabbed her harness, beginning to fasten it around her waist so she could get started on climbing the wall.

This was where Sango expected to make up for her earlier disadvantage against Ayame. Ayame was in great shape, and a good runner, but Sango knew climbing walls. She could handle this, easy, it was the perfect advantage!

And that wasn't the only thing she had that would give her the edge over Ayame. Ayame had Foof, but Sango had Silver at her side. Silver could float up with her as she climbed the wall, but Ayame would have to hold her big round Foof in her arms while she climbed, which was absolutely going to slow her down.

It wasn't a guarantee that Ayame wouldn't catch up to her when they were down from the wall, but it was definitely going to give her the edge. She'd have to do the rest herself, but that was still more than enough reason to be confident.

Sango couldn't help but smile.

"I know that smile, thinking you've got this one in the bag, huh?" Ayame called, already done with her harness and ready to scale the wall. Her eyes flashed with excitement. To Sango's confusion, she wasn't holding Foof; the Wooloo was standing in the dirt next to her.

"Uh… I mean…" Yeah, maybe Sango was counting her berries before they were picked, but what did Ayame have up her sleeve that could help her?

"You must be confident, knowing that there aren't any Rock Climbing Pokeathlon Events," Ayame continued, "so you probably don't think we'll be able to catch up on this rock wall, isn't that right?" She laughed. "That's why you're smiling!"

Sango blinked. Honestly the idea of Pokeathlon competitions and what Ayame's pokemon were trained in hadn't even occurred to her.

"But that won't matter," Ayame grinned, her eyes twinkling. "Foof's in great condition, isn't that right, partner?"

"Wooooo!" Foof called, nodding eagerly.

"And the condition she's suited for the best today, after her Apricorn Juice, is jumping!" Ayame grinned. "Foof, show her what I mean!"

"Wooloo!" Foof nodded, jumping up on her hooves. She perched perfectly on one of the tiny rocks sticking out of the wall, then jumped to another, and another, climbing the side of the wall with a series of jumps, as Ayame smiled with pride.

Sango's jaw dropped in disbelief. She hadn't seen that coming.

The Toughness Competition is going quite well! The girls are trying their best, most of them, anyway, and there are some obvious leads! Who will come out ahead, I wonder?