Olivia has fallen! Will she be alright?! Or will she meet a tragic end? The final leg of the Toughness Competition comes to an end with this chapter, what will be the result?!

KedharS: She definitely needs some help, or else we'll be down to three Daevas.

JoshGamerV: Who knows? Maybe she'll just get maimed a little. No one expected what happened to Dakota.

Thunder Fire: Assuming it was his fault, of course.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 776

Weightlessness. A feeling of emptiness and detachment from everything around you, as though one were existing in the world without truly being a part of it.

That was what Olivia Himeko felt during the eternity that spanned those brief seconds after the rope holding her on the side of the cliff snapped.

Then she dropped. She didn't even scream as she fell, she was too shocked at what had happened. Before she had the chance to let out a squeak, or realize what was wrong, she felt something soft and heavy slam into her, knocking the wind out of her. A flash of light nearly blinded her, and she came to a sudden stop.

Pain blossomed through her. Unlike the pain in her heart that she'd carried for most of her life, this was a kind of pain Olivia wasn't accustomed to, a burning physical pain, shooting through her body and down into her leg, like it had been crushed.

But the pain was a reminder that she was alive.

How was she still alive? The knew how high she had climbed. Staring up into the sky, so much lighter than before as the dawn broke, she could just barely make out where she had fallen, and she should have been smashed upon the hard ground below.

But what was pressed against her wasn't hard. It was soft and gentle, and the smell that surrounded her was so familiar…

Olivia lay on a carpet of roses. A field of flowers had sprung up from the ground below her, so dense and thick that they had served to cushion her from the fall.

What… what's going on? Olivia asked herself, stunned that she was still alive.

"What the hell?!" Olivia heard Erik's voice pierce through the fog of her confusion, and she glanced in the direction of the shouts to see him running towards her. Feeling her body start to stir, another surge of pain shot down through her leg, and everything sharpened into crystal clarity.

Alcea Vermeil was hugging her body tightly. She must have slammed into her when she saw Olivia fall, holding onto her, and then freed herself from her harness before it dragged them both to the ground, and then she…

Alcea breathed out a groan. "Thank you… Venus…" She muttered, releasing Olivia and sitting up. Olivia gazed enviously up at her. They had both fallen, but Alcea looked almost uninjured. And even then, she still looked beautiful…

Alcea had saved her life. Olivia wished that she wasn't grateful, but she was.

"What happened?!" Erik stopped beside the flowerbed, moving around the Venusaur and kneeling next to the girls.

"My harness… snapped… Useless fucking equipment…" Olivia muttered. She tried to sit up, but pain shot through her leg again as she tried. There was no way she was standing, her leg might have even been broken.

Erik helped Olivia out of the harness and inspected her leg as Alcea watched on. All the other girls were busy climbing the side of the mountain, even Lila, but there didn't seem to be any signs of equipment malfunction.

"Your ankle is twisted," Erik noted with a hint of relief in his voice. "You'll have to stay off of it for a while, but fortunately there weren't any serious injuries. That could have been a devastating fall if it wasn't for Alcea's quick thinking."

"Nonsense," Alcea murmured, glancing away from the two of them. "It is simply what anyone would do, is it?"

Olivia didn't really care about that now, though. She tried to stand anyway, even though the pain in her ankle was maddening. It wasn't like anything else was that harmed, after all. She could continue, she had to.

"Give me… another harness…" She rasped out.

The audience had been watching the sequence of events play out with shock and horror on their faces. Silence gripped the Milotic Dome like never before, save for the night when all were sleeping. They had seen Olivia fall, gasps of disbelief raising through the crowd, followed by sighs of relief when she and Alcea made it to the ground safely.

Even Lukas was at a loss for words. And he wasn't the only one.

Erik stared at Olivia in shock, unable to believe what he had heard.

"Are you insane?!" He roared. "Absolutely not! You can't seriously be asking to keep going on with the contest! We need to get you to the nurse's office! Now!"

"I refuse…" Olivia wheezed. She tried to take a step forward, and nearly tilted over when she put pressure on her bad leg. "I need… to win. I won't… give in here-!"

Even Olivia could see that there was absolutely no fucking way she was going to make it up the side of the mountain with only one leg. While her twisted ankle was the worst of her injuries it wasn't the extent of them. The flower pillow may have saved her from serious harm, but her body was still covered in bruises and every inch of her was sore.

She ignored that and took another step forward, and promptly fell to her knees as she hissed in pain. Why?! She had come so far… she was almost there… and she couldn't push herself through this obstacle, right at the end?

Tears began to well up in her eyes, but she refused to let them out. She wouldn't cry. Not here, not in front of everyone.

Not in front of her.

Through Olivia's bleary eyes, she saw a pale hand reach out to her.

"…What?" Olivia whispered, wiping her eyes clean and staring up in shock at the owner of whose hand it was.

Alcea stood over her, looking down on her. But unlike all the other times, it wasn't with disinterest or scorn. Her eyes were warm and soft.

"Come," she said, her voice carrying the gentle ring of a bell. "I'll help you up the mountain."

Olivia slapped her hand against the ground and spat. "Do you really think," she hissed, "that I would accept help from the likes of you?!"

"You refuse my help… and you refuse to give up, is it?" Alcea asked. "Which of these offends you more, I wonder?"

Bile welled up in Olivia's chest. There were so many words she had to scorn Alcea with, so much anger to unleash on the arrogant girl, but she just couldn't spit them out. She seethed up at her instead, desperate for some other option, some other way forward, but there was none.

"You can't do this!" Erik exclaimed, interrupting her thoughts. "Like I said before, we need to contact emergency medical services and get her treated!"

"You said it was a twisted ankle, is it?" Alcea clarified, shooting him a sharp look of disapproval that took the ranger in training by surprise.

"Y-Yes, but… that's still very severe, without an examination to ensure that's the extent of it, it would be irresponsible to-"

"She will get examined, do not worry," Alcea assured him, turning away from the boy and giving Olivia her full attention again. "After. I guarantee it, as a member of the Eight Leaders. Surely something as trivial as this will be permitted with my authority, is it? This girl… she does not want things to end here, does she?"

That was true. As much as Olivia hated to admit it, that was true. With her leg in the state that it was, she was forced to accept that there was no chance of winning. The most she could hope for now was to complete the competition and finish out the rest of the contest with some measure of her dignity remaining, rather than bow out.

As much as she loathed Alcea, retiring due to an injury was simply out of the question. So even as the words turned to poison on her lips, she accepted Alcea's offer for support.

"Damn it…" She cursed, banging her fists against the muddy ground as tears fell from her eyes. "Damn it all…"

Alcea helped Olivia to her feet, giving the other girl purchase to lean against her, rather than putting her weight on her leg. It was impossible for the girls to scale the side of the mountain in this condition, but Alcea could still take the long way, walking up the winding path towards the peak, with Olivia right at her side.

"What a touching moment of camaraderie between two enemies," Lukas sniffled, wiping a tear from his eye. His feelings were genuine, but this showmanship and theatricality made it difficult to take him seriously.

Blake was surprised by Alcea's actions. She had sacrificed her chance to win in order to help Olivia Himeko, in spite of how much bad blood had been shown between them during the length of this contest.

He turned to Kate, who had been cheering so fervently for Alcea, and wondered what she thought of Alcea sacrificing her chance of victory.

But if there was something that Kate would disagree with Alcea on, it certainly wasn't this. Kate was in tears as she watched the screen, sobbing into a handkerchief. "Milady… she's so wonderful… helping someone like the Empress… truly she's the most benevolent woman there could be, she's truly the queen of queens!"

Blake didn't feel like arguing with her, so he turned his attention back to the screen and pretended like he hadn't heard anything, while his friends were cheering and encouraging the other girls to keep going. He had more important things to worry about, after all.

Namely, Aya's performance, and her inevitable victory!

"Wow, that's nice," Cynthia sighed. She was actually touched at the performance, and the genuine care Alcea was showing. It was a rarity.

"Alcea is truly an inspiration!" Callie said, nodding vigorously and puffing out her chest with pride. "A member of the Eight Leaders to aspire to!" She sighed, the light in her face dimming slightly. "It's hard to believe that we're the same age," she mumbled under her breath.

"It's sweet," Kitty agreed with her friend.

Alcea and Olivia were deaf to the heartwarming thoughts sent in their direction, progressing slowly up the mountain.

"I don't… understand…" Olivia muttered. She was sulking, but she couldn't help but ask. "Why? Why would you… for someone like me?"

Alcea let out the faintest of sighs. Her eyes did not leave the horizon, where the sun was starting to break to greet the dawn.

"You would not yield without me lending you a hand," Alcea said. "So of course I would help you walk. Even if I were to lose this contest… it matters not. This contest… the title of Miss Pokemon Academy… such things don't matter to me at all, is it?"

Of course something like that didn't matter to someone like Alcea. Someone who had all the prestige and titles she could ever hope for, just for being born to noble parents who were married? What use would she have for the position of Miss Pokemon Academy? It was a position that Olivia coveted so dearly, all so she could show how great she was to Alcea, and prove that the other girl wasn't really all that.

But of course, Alcea wouldn't care for the whims of a commoner like her. It was all just a pointless child's game, like a real royal staring at a little girl playing princess in her living room. It just couldn't compare.

Those were the bitter thoughts swirling about Olivia's mind as she took in Alcea's response. But even as Alcea's words made Olivia hate her even more, she couldn't let it end so suddenly, there was still so much more she wanted to hear from Alcea.

"That… wasn't what I meant," Olivia said. "I meant… why would you save me…? Jumping down like that, sending out your Venusaur to use grassy terrain to shield my fall… why…? For someone like me, I don't… I don't understand…"

This got Alcea's attention. She looked to Olivia with a sour expression on her face, like a mixture of disbelief and disappointment.

"Because… you needed to be saved, is it?" Alcea explained, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You were falling and I could save you, so of course I would. It is what anyone else would do, is it?"

A bitter chuckle escaped Olivia's lips before she could respond. She shook her head in disbelief. "You… that's…"

That was really it? That was the reason Alcea had saved her?

Alcea gave her another look, before turning her eyes towards the path ahead, helping Olivia pass through the uneven terrain safely.

"It would be the same for you, is it?" Alcea asked.

Olivia was taken aback by that question. She had to take a moment to think about what Alcea was asking her. "Wait, what do you mean?" She asked, confused.

"If I had fallen, and you could save me, I'm confident that you would have done exactly the same, would you not?" Alcea calmly inquired, her tone even like she was stating a fact rather than expressing her hopes.

Olivia couldn't believe Alcea could be so trusting. Did she really think that Olivia would sacrifice her chance to win just to save the life of her sworn enemy? After everything she and Alcea had conflicted over, she believed that?

"I… I mean…" Olivia didn't know what to say in response to that.

Of course, she wouldn't have let Alcea fall. In Alcea's position, she would have done exactly the same thing, and jumped after her to save her. But for some reason, saying that was the most embarrassing, humiliating thing ever.

Olivia sighed, shaking her head. "I'm surprised that you would honestly believe that. Are you really so certain that I wouldn't have let you fall? It would make for quite an easy victory, and I'm not exactly the most benevolent person."

Now it was Alcea's turn to laugh. It surprised Olivia, hearing her chuckle like that. It just sounded so unusual for Alcea.

"Of course you wouldn't let me die just so you could secure your victory," Alcea replied. "If I were to die… you would not be able to gloat."

Olivia had to laugh at that herself. Alcea wasn't wrong.

It was an unusual position for Olivia to be in. She still loathed Alcea, and wanted more than anything to prove her superiority to the arrogant girl. A nice pleasant exchange like this would never change that about her.

But at the same time, she could still appreciate this moment of peace between the two of them, couldn't she?

While Olivia and Alcea traveled the slow way up the mountain, Sango and Ayame were completely blind to what had gone on between the two of them. They were practically tied for first, both girls struggling to make it up the mountain first in order to be the winner of the Toughness Competition.

Sango didn't pay Ayame any mind. Time spent looking to check the other girl's progress was time that she could be spending climbing up the mountain. She couldn't risk a look, in case she was ahead; it might cost her the entire competition!

Ayame didn't pay Sango any mind. Time spent looking to check the other girl's progress was time that she could be spending climbing up the mountain. She couldn't risk a look, in case she was ahead; it might cost her the entire competition!

Both girls were united in thought as they struggled to the top, but both knew they had to do their absolute best if they wanted the chance to win.

They were perhaps the only people still in the competition who were trying to win. Serefina was enjoying the act of climbing the wall, it was a nice and fun event that she didn't get the chance to do often, but as she was out of the contest it wasn't like she really needed to try that hard in order to win. She was enjoying traveling at her own pace.

Gabrielle also wasn't trying that hard to win, because she was likewise out of the contest, and just going through the motions of the Toughness Competition.

But she had fallen behind Serefina, stopping when she'd seen Alcea and Olivia fall. She'd paused, looking back over her shoulder to check in on Alcea's condition, relieved to see that she was okay. She didn't mind sacrificing the lead, and she wasn't about to exert herself trying to catch up to Serefina, either, so she was climbing in peace.

Meanwhile, Darla, the only girl still on the mountain with a chance at victory besides Sango and Ayame, wasn't trying to win either. She was climbing side by side with Lila, matching her pace with her partner, knowing Lila would need the support.

And boy did Lila need the support. Her whole body was sore, and she had already broken several nails. She would need some SERIOUS beauty treatments when this stupid dumb competition was all over with! But at the same time, she couldn't help but appreciate Darla's presence. Her friend was by her side, supporting her, and that was more than enough for Lila to continue to move forward, even though she knew that she wouldn't win.

Darla was sacrificing her chance at victory to support her, and Lila wasn't about to take that support for granted. It was enough to move Lila ahead, convinced of just how much her friend cared about her, striving to live up to her expectations.

As the girls continued to climb the mountain, the cheers of the audience were getting more and more fervent, finally back into the swing of things after the brief unpleasantness with Alcea and Olivia earlier.

"Look at them go!" Lukas cheered. "Ayame and Sango are tied neck and neck, trying to reach the finish line first! The sun is rising and the contest will end any moment now, which one of them will make it to the finish first?! Whoever wins will receive the crown of Miss Pokemon Academy, it's definitely a nailbiter!"

"Come on, Aya!" Blake cheered at the top of his lungs as Sango and Ayame climbed. "You can do it, I'm sure!" He added, "and you can do it, too, Sango! Both of you, do your best!"

Claire smiled at Blake, glad that he was rooting for both of them.

Sango and Ayame planted their hands on the top of the ledge at the same time, and pulled themselves up onto the flat of the plateau. Their eyes landed on the flat in the distance simultaneously, and they shot to each other.

Shaky smiles crossed their faces as they realized that it was all going to come down to this last moment. Who would get to the finish?!

Both girls took off, running like their lives depended on it. Lunging forward, they reached the flag, and one of the girls wrapped her hand around it first, seizing the victory.

Who was it? The conclusion comes next!