Olivia has managed to live a somewhat-peaceful life in the Sinnoh Region! It's not the best, and she's not satisfied, but she's managed to move past the pain of Alcea Vermeil. What else awaits her in Sinnoh, though? Can it really be so simple? Good luck, Olivia!

Thunder Fire: Maybe.

JoshGamerV: It's definitely amusing, that's for sure.

Pokemonking0924: He's not that bad of a guy, and their relationship is pretty fine.

KedharS: It certainly will be.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 773

Olivia shivered, staring up at the overcast sky above her head. Winter had come to Celestic Town, and Olivia still remained here. It had been several months she'd stayed with the elderly lady at her little hut, and Olivia had to admit…

The quaint little town had grown on her.

She would never tell anyone that out loud, of course! While she may have just been a bastard, it did give her a bit of a thrill to have access to more money than the average Sinnohian, since the region lacked the nobility of the Galar Region. In hindsight, her high-class attitude was probably a contributing factor to her ostracization from her classmates.

Honestly, the Sinnoh Region was surprisingly eye-opening as to how good Olivia had really had it, growing up in her father's estate. While she was never openly acknowledged as his daughter, her father had given her lots of gifts (with the knowledge that she would keep them hidden away in her room, where no one could see them) and nice things, and she had access to great food and a nice, luxurious bed to sleep in.

Here, in Celestic Town, things were a lot more rustic. She didn't have any luxuries, heck, the town didn't even have a MART! If she wanted to buy something, she would have to rely on traditional folk medicines that Cynthia didn't like very much.

But as used as she might have been to living nicely, she couldn't help but admire the quaint charms of this town. Later on, once she'd established her reputation nicely among her fellow students at the Pokemon Academy and with her many contacts in the entertainment industry, she would vow that no one would ever learn how much she liked Celestic Town's peaceful atmosphere. But right now, she was just some girl.

And nobody really cared what Olivia Himeko thought about anything at the moment.

"Here are those bags of rice you ordered," Olivia groaned, walking into the elder's hostel with a bag of rice in her arms. Cynthia followed behind her, carrying all the other bags like the dutiful pokemon she was.

Ugh. Menial labor. They were two of Olivia's least favorite words. She was immensely grateful that Cynthia was such a tough little Gible (even if she almost never won pokemon battles) so that she could help out.

Believe it or not, Olivia actually didn't mind the chores she did for the old lady that much. While she despised hard work in all its forms (except, of course, when said work was absolutely necessary for showing people how much better she was than them) she wasn't heartless; making an old woman carry all that rice would be unbelievably cruel, and it wasn't like there was anything better she could be spending her time on.

She set down the rice bag in the entryway and Cynthia did the same with the rest. Olivia strolled into the living room of the hostel. She still couldn't believe that no one here had a TV. How on earth did people LIVE in this town with no television or wi-fi? She had to get out of here fast before the sedentary nature of this town of senior citizens set in on her.

But then again, that soup was pretty good… she could at least stay for the winter, couldn't she? The old lady would need some help around the place…

Olivia entered the next room and froze at what she saw. She'd been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't picked up on it at first, but on second look…

She wiped her eyes with her fist to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Ah, hello there, dearie, back so soon?" The old lady asked with a smile. "Thank you for picking up the rice, but that wasn't necessary! My granddaughter came up to stay with us for the winter, and she'll be happy to lend a hand!"

Sitting at the kotatsu and reading an old book was a blonde woman Olivia knew all too well, and couldn't believe the presence of. The blonde woman looked up at Olivia and smiled, waving at her generously.

It couldn't be. It couldn't be. Olivia could not believe something like this was actually possible, she must have been dreaming. Had the owner of the hostel really just introduced her as her granddaughter? THIS was the granddaughter Olivia had been hearing so many stories about?

"Are you okay?" The woman asked. She wore a concerned expression on her face as she looked at Olivia, whose utter shock and disbelief must have been obvious to see. And could anyone really blame her?

Sitting at the kotatsu was the last person Olivia had ever thought to see. She had traveled all the way to the Sinnoh Region in part because of the famous figure's connection to the region, but she still had never imagined in her wildest dreams that the trainer she idolized most would be sitting right in front of her.

It was Cynthia Harker, the Sinnoh Region champion. Sitting at a kotatsu at a hostel in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere.

"Y-Y-Y…" Olivia couldn't get her mouth to move right. "Y-You…"

Cynthia smiled at her and batted her eyelashes innocently. "Me?"

"You're… You're Cynthia Harker!" Olivia practically screamed.

It was the old woman who commented first. "Why, yes, this is my granddaughter Cynthia! Have you two met?"

Cynthia chuckled and shook her head. "No, grandma, it's not like that," she assured her grandmother. "She probably knows who I am because I'm the Pokemon Champion."

"Ah, yes, that pokemon battling thing, I keep forgetting," Cynthia's grandmother laughed, waving her hand as she dismissed Cynthia's career as the pokemon champion as "that pokemon battling thing" to Olivia's disbelief.

Normally, Olivia was a lot more composed. She was used to keeping her head down and not drawing attention to herself, not one to make a big scene unless she absolutely meant to. But right now, all that decorum was nowhere to be found as thoughts of Cynthia filled her head.

"I-I… you're my idol!" Olivia exclaimed, the world falling away from her as she ran to Cynthia, crouching down beside her and staring up at the older woman with adoration in her eyes. "Ever since I saw you fight, I've wanted to be a pokemon trainer just as strong and beautiful as you! I-I even had my father find me a Gible so I could raise the same pokemon as you do!" She gushed, the words overflowing from her lips.

"My, how sweet!" Cynthia laughed. "But… hmm, that hair, you're not from around these parts, are you young miss?"

Olivia winced, and felt her heart break a little. She'd just told Cynthia about how much she idolized her, and the first words out of the woman's mouth were "oh, you're not Sinnohian?" Olivia had no idea what she'd expected, but Cynthia continuing with the prejudice the rest of the Sinnoh Region showed her certainly wasn't it.

"Th-That's…" Olivia didn't even know what to say. For a brief instant the world was filled with color again like when she'd met Alcea. But those words had caused it to come crashing down around her and now she didn't know what to make of it.

Then Cynthia gave her a smile that made everything okay.

"I think that's quite bold of you, to travel all the way here at such a young age." Cynthia's praise was like mana from heaven, and Olivia couldn't believe that she was hearing such kind words from such an amazing woman.

"Th-Thank you!" Olivia cried. "My name is Olivia Himeko, and… and it's such an honor to meet you, Miss Harker! Or, that's Champion Harker! You're so amazing! I've looked up to you ever since I was a little girl! I-I can't believe I actually… Actually, I've been traveling across Sinnoh for months! You see, I-I… I was…" Olivia felt her voice catch in her throat, and realized that she couldn't just come out and tell Cynthia the truth.

How could she tell such an amazing woman about how she was so pathetic she had come to Sinnoh fleeing from her painful past, and had no idea what she wanted to do with her life? That in spite of wanting to be just like Cynthia, she was a pitiful pokemon trainer who could count the number of wins she'd accrued on one hand?

Olivia swallowed the insecurity welling up inside of her, and forced herself to tell Cynthia a lovely story that she wished were true.

She cleared her throat, and put on the most confident look she could muster. "I wanted to be a powerful trainer just like you," Olivia explained. "So I thought that coming to the Sinnoh Region would be the perfect place to hone my skills and master my ability. And someday, I'm going to be strong enough to take you on in a pokemon battle!"

Her story wasn't quite a lie. Deep down inside, Olivia did want all those things.

But she also knew that no matter how hard she tried, she would never be able to stand on the same stage as Cynthia.

And from the look in Cynthia's eye, the champion knew it too.

"Is that right…" Cynthia mused, sliding her gaze from Olivia to the other Cynthia in the room. Olivia glanced at her Gible, who looked warily back at her, and then glanced at the ground bashfully, ashamed of something.

"It-It is!" Olivia insisted, doubling down on her lie. Cynthia shook her head.

"I think that part of you definitely wants that to be true," Cynthia said, rising to her feet and helping Olivia up.

Olivia was so entranced by her idol actually holding her hand that she didn't even think to continue her lie. She just stuttered and mumbled out a "w-well…"

"You're not quite sure what you want to do, are you?" Cynthia asked, laying a comforting hand on Olivia's shoulder. Her touch was so soft and warm, so full of love, it reminded Olivia of her own mother. She almost burst into tears.

"I-I don't know…" Olivia admitted, slumping forward and hugging Cynthia tightly. She began to sob into Cynthia's black coat, and the older woman just smiled down at the crying girl, running her hand soothingly through her hair.

"That's okay," Cynthia said gently. "You're still young. It's okay that you don't know what you want to do with your life just yet. But I'll tell you something, Olivia. In a few days, I'm going to be continuing my journey, traveling through Sinnoh to buy some souvenirs for my children back in Kalos. If you'd like, you can come along with me. What do you say?"

Olivia's tears dried up immediately and she looked up at Cynthia in disbelief. Cynthia… she was really offering to… "are… are you sure?" She asked.

Cynthia smiled. "It would be nice to have a traveling companion!" She said. "What do you think? We can look for something you can enjoy together!"

Olivia couldn't believe her ears. And she couldn't agree fast enough.

And that was how Olivia found herself touring Sinnoh in the company of her idol, Cynthia Harker. Cynthia took her to all sorts of places, the three great lakes of Sinnoh, the peak of Mt. Coronet, and the Veilstone City Department Store, which Olivia had spent a lot of time in herself, previously. She talked a lot about her family, and Olivia opened up to her in turn, but she still found herself unable to confide completely in the other woman.

Cynthia was amazing, after all, it just seemed wrong to tell her about Alcea. She didn't want the other woman's pity, she wanted her respect.

But it all came to a head when they went to the Valley Windworks.

It wasn't the facility itself, of course. But on their way to Jubilife City after the Windworks, they made a stop at a town that Olivia had been avoiding her whole trip here.

Floaroma Town was filled with wonderful flowers. Hills stretched out for acres past the houses of the town, filled with flowers that swayed peacefully in the wind. It was truly a beautiful location, that was for sure. But to Olivia, the sight of all those flowers brought her nothing but sadness, bringing back memories of Alcea and her father's garden.

Her footsteps slowed as they approached, and eventually she reached the point where she couldn't bring herself to walk any further. She glanced down and began trembling, resisting the urge to burst into tears.

Cynthia turned back to her, concern on her face. "Olivia? Is something the matter?" She asked.

Olivia sniffled and shook her head. "N-No, I-I'm fine," she said. But she should have known better than to lie to Cynthia so obviously. The older woman sighed and walked over to Olivia, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Would you like to tell me about it?" She quietly asked.

Olivia tried to be strong, she really did. She tried to keep from showing such a pitiful appearance to Cynthia, but it was just too much for her to bear. She burst into tears and told Cynthia everything. All about how miserable she'd been back in Galar, how she'd tried to live up to her father's expectations and just couldn't, about how she didn't have any friends at her school because she was "the weird foreign girl", about how she couldn't even be seen in public with her father, how she would never be a powerful trainer, and most painfully of all, the fact that she'd lost her best and only friend after only one night together.

Cynthia listened to all of Olivia's problems without judgment in her eyes. She nodded along with her and wore a solemn expression by the end of Olivia's story.

"That… must have been very hard for you," she said quietly, her eyes showing a look of empathy for Olivia, as if she had gone through similar hardships herself, as difficult as that was to believe. She glanced at Olivia's shirt. "That handkerchief… it belonged to your friend, Alcea?"

Olivia gasped, looking down at the red handkerchief that poked out of her shirt pocket. In spite of how painful it was to remember Alcea, she couldn't bring herself to throw away the one thing that her friend had given her. The scent of roses had long-since faded to the winds of time, but Olivia could swear that if she smelled it that familiar aroma was still there. It was that deeply ingrained in her memories that she just couldn't imagine the handkerchief without the scent.

"It… it was," she admitted.

"And right now, you're finding it difficult to remember your friend, because of how painful it is?" Cynthia prodded. "I myself know how painful it is to lose those close to me, to not be able to see them again in spite of how much I would like to…"

Olivia wasn't sure what she was hearing. Cynthia had lost someone close to her? Who could that have been? It wasn't a rumor she had ever heard of before. She thought about it for several seconds before realizing that OF COURSE Cynthia had lost someone, everyone had lost someone at one point in their lives.

"What… what should I do?" Olivia sniveled. "I don't know what to do… She… I barely knew her, but just being around her it made everything feel so much better. And now she's gone, and I don't know what to do…"

"No one does, in times like these," Cynthia said, wiping the tears from Olivia's face. She walked around and placed her arm on Olivia's back, guiding her away from Floaroma Town. "Come. Floaroma Town can wait. There's somewhere else I want to show you, first."

Olivia wasn't sure where Cynthia was taking her, but she trusted the older woman completely. Her heart pounded in her chest as they walked towards Mt. Coronet, and unbeknownst to Olivia, towards her brand-new future.

On the other side of Mt. Coronet was a city Olivia had visited several times, but hadn't really cared all that much about, Hearthome City.

It was nice and bustling and everything, the sort of place that she would normally frequent, but compared to the more chic Veilstone City it didn't seem to have much going for it in comparison, just another big city filled with people.

Although it was definitely better than icky Pastoria City and its Great Marsh. Olivia never spent the night there, preferring the luxury hotels on the coast.

Cynthia navigated through the city like a woman on a mission, leading Olivia gingerly through the bustling streets and towards the massive domed building far on the other side of the city. When they got there, Olivia looked at it in confusion.

"Where are we?" Olivia asked.

Cynthia smiled. "This is the Hearthome Dome," she explained. "Are you telling me you've been in Sinnoh this long, and you never thought to check out a Pokemon Contest?"

Olivia tilted her head to the side. A Pokemon Contest? What was that?

The confusion on her face brought a flare of mischievousness to Cynthia's eyes. Oh, this was just perfect! She giggled, leading Olivia inside.

"Come, let me show you exactly what you're missing out on," Cynthia said. "It should be rather interesting, I promise."

Olivia was intrigued by Cynthia's mysterious words, her heart beating intensely as she followed her into the contest hall.

She waited awkwardly in the lobby while Cynthia got them some tickets, glancing at the pokemon and people bustling around.

It was rather interesting. A lot of people were dressed up in fancy outfits, and their pokemon were also dressed up fancy as well. It was a rather interesting sight. Olivia had never seen a pokemon dressed up like this before.

"Cynthia, why is that lady dressing up her Purugly?" Olivia asked Cynthia when she came back to pick the girl up.

"Because she's going to use it in a Pokemon Contest, Olivia," Cynthia explained with a twinkle in her eye. "So she wants her pokemon to look her best."

"What's a Pokemon Contest?" Olivia asked, still not sure what Cynthia was talking about. All she knew was that it had something to do with dressing up pokemon.

"It's something special," Cynthia explained. "I'm sure you're aware that pokemon battles are ways to show off how strong your pokemon are, right?"

"Obviously," Olivia said, rolling her eyes. Cynthia led her past the doors to the audience, and to her own private box. "So what?"

"A Pokemon Contest is a little different," Cynthia explained. "In Pokemon Contests, it isn't about whose pokemon is stronger. Pokemon Coordinators, that is, people who enter their pokemon into Pokemon Contests, are only concerned with the features of their pokemon and how they can make their pokemon stand out."

"Stand… out?" Olivia asked.

"Pokemon in Pokemon Contests are judged by one of five categories, Coolness, Beauty, Cuteness, Cleverness, and Toughness," Cynthia explained, and began to go in even greater detail about what Pokemon Contests entailed.

Olivia couldn't believe what she was hearing. In Galar, showmanship was all about making yourself a star of pokemon battles. If you didn't have the strongest pokemon, no one paid any attention to you at all.

But now she was hearing that there was something else? There were these events, called Pokemon Contests, where trainers could show off their pokemon and become stars without needing to win battles?

Did that mean… that even someone like her, who couldn't win pokemon battles, could become a star? People would look at her and appreciate her? Think that… that it was okay for her to be there, even if she was just some girl?

Olivia's world had been in black and white for so long. But as she turned to watch her first Pokemon Contest, all that changed in an instant. Color flooded into the world, and Olivia was blown away, never to be the same again.

How lovely! Olivia has found her passion, Pokemon Contests! A nice, touching moment of happiness for Christmas Eve. Next chapter, we finally return to the labyrinth, and wrap up the second leg of the Toughness Competition once and for all!