Alden and Alcea are fighting to the fullest in a double battle to show the people of the Orre Region what it means to have a passionate battle that you can enjoy! But the people of Orre tend to care more about who's going to win. Alcea looks like she has the Commander on the ropes, but could it really be that simple? Or does the Commander have something up his sleeve?

KedharS: Well, Alcea does like battling quite a bit, and there's something about the Commander that's just infectious, you'd have to be a soulless monster to not have fun battling against him with how passionate he is.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Yeah, Alden's definitely not someone to take lightly, that's for sure. There's no telling who's going to win this one yet!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 863

"Tracey, use flame charge to attack that Venusaur!" Alden ordered. "And Corin, you hit her with your heal pulse!"

"Cinderace!"

"Lucario!"

The two pokemon nodded, springing into action. Tracey ran forward, increasing her speed as flames kicked up around her body. She turned back into the Fire type, keeping her from being susceptible to another grassy glide from Venus. As Tracey ran, Corin focused her aura, generating a blue veil of energy that she directed towards the Cinderace in a healing pulse, restoring a good portion of her health in return.

"Oh! I didn't think of that!" Callie gasped. "Yeah! You can use healing moves on your allies in a double battle, wow!"

"Exactly," Vic said, smiling with pride in the Commander's praise. "That's one of the exceptional things about double battles. Your pokemon can help each other, both in defense and in offense, but also with support moves like that one!"

Rui smiled. It had been so many years since she'd heard her daughter talk about pokemon battles with such joy in her voice. This Alden boy that she'd fallen in love with- and that's what it was, love, Rui was certain of it- he'd done an amazing job with her.

She reminds me of myself at that age, Rui laughed to herself. Of course, Alden's got nothing on my Wes, hehe…

"Bold of you, is it?" Alcea said, cracking a smile. She was used to being the one whose pokemon healed themselves, and being on the receiving end of it was quite exciting. "But it will take more than that to defeat us! Now, Venus! Use earth power!"

"VENUSAUR!" Venus bellowed. She stomped hard on the grass, sending energy into the pavement below. The ground beneath Tracey's feet began to crack and boil, and eruptions of dirt exploded out from under her.

"Tracey, dodge!" Alden ordered. Tracey ran as fast as she could, trying to outrun the exploding ground, and Corin was forced to do the same. Venus was putting in overtime splitting her earth power attacks between two targets, trying to keep both pokemon hemmed in while Anastacia recovered. Luckily, the Tsareena was quick to strike back.

"Tsar!" Anastacia leapt through the air, crashing into Tracey with a powerful kick that caught the rabbit pokemon off-guard. She continued the brutal assault, forcing Tracey backwards with a series of acrobatics that bruised and battered the fragile pokemon.

"Cinder-!" Tracey was forced to give up ground in the face of Anastacia's attacks, leaping backwards to put some distance between the two of them.

But that was just what Alcea had been hoping for. When the Cinderace landed on the ground to catch her breath, she only had a fraction of a second to respond to the blazing-hot ring of earth boiling beneath her.

"Tracey!" Alden shouted.

Tracey didn't have time to react as a pillar of magma erupted beneath her. But Corin did. The Lucario thought fast, swinging her telescoping aura staff out and catching Tracey in the stomach, knocking her clear of the blast. Being hit by the bone rush did some damage, but not nearly as much as the earth power would have done.

"Clever move, is it?" Alcea said, wiping her forehead. It had been some time since a battle had made her sweat like this. She couldn't keep the smile off her lips, she was having too much fun! A match like this that got her blood pumping, her opponents using everything they had, it was fights like this that she lived for!

"I can feel it, Allie, can't you?" Alden asked, cracking a grin. "Your 'Sense' is as fierce as mine, this is the kind of battle that I've been waiting for!"

Alcea smiled and nodded in agreement. She didn't even mind his annoying nickname for her. "Oui, this match… it's perfect, is it?"

Alden was glad she was on the same page. She really did get it! Alcea was the absolute perfect opponent to christen his arrival in Orre with. Someone he could face head-on, without having to hold back anything! His only regret was that he couldn't face her in a full six on six battle. But even if it was a double battle, with their level of skill, it would take far too long to finish, and as much as he loved a good fight, they had places to be.

"I'd love to keep this going forever… but Corin, we've got to show her our all, don't you agree?" He shouted.

"Lucario!" Corin nodded in agreement.

"And Tracey, we're not going to let a few injuries get us down, are we?" He asked, turning to his Cinderace next.

"Cinder!" Tracey smiled, shaking her head and hopping to her feet. The pain in her ribs was nothing in comparison to the excitement she felt.

"Oui," Alcea nodded. "I'm glad, is it? That we could face an opponent of your caliber. Venus, Anastacia, hold nothing back!"

Anastacia looked to Venus and nodded. They both knew what that was a signal for.

"Tsareena!" Anastacia said, glowing with orange light. She sculpted an orb of energy with her hands and flung it into the air, illuminating the port city with intense sunlight.

"Sunny day, huh?" Alden squinted. "That's an old classic from you, Allie!"

"I'm not going to hide from any weaknesses right now," Alcea replied, holding her head up high. "Bring on your fire! We'll match it gladly!"

While Anastacia lit up the sky with her sunny day, Venus was on a different path. She'd already began gathering energy for a powerful solarbeam, and thanks to the intense sunlight she'd taken more than she needed.

"Venusaur!" Venus tilted her flower towards Tracey, firing a beam of concentrated sunlight at her. With the boost from her Chlorophyll, the solarbeam moved at a speed not even the speedy Cinderace had a hope of dodging. She took the attack head-on, rolling back through the grass.

"Tracey!" Aldren cried, knowing how much that solarbeam had to hurt even with a resistance. And boy, it certainly had. Tracey rose shakily to her feet, holding her badly burned arm. She was on her last legs, even after Corin's heal pulse. That wasn't good. With the speed that Venus was moving now, another heal pulse wasn't the way. Hell, Venus was already building up another solarbeam to finish her off for good!

Luckily, Corin could sense the attack coming, and had already moved in front of Tracey to intercept it. She raised her bone and began to spin it, the staff whirling at high speed as she tried to desperately stave off the powerful solarbeam. But it was a losing battle, she could already feel the heat of the sunlight pushing through.

But she only needed to buy a few seconds. Her staff finally gave up the ghost and she was knocked backwards, rolling through the grass and leaping to her feet. A fierce glare burned in her eyes, so intimidating that for a second Alcea lost track of what was going on.

That was why she missed the fact that Corin's leap in front of Tracey wasn't just a technique to prevent the other pokemon from being knocked out. It was a distraction- one that she and her pokemon had fallen for completely.

Tracey was no longer in the grass; she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Alcea had a moment to figure it out, shooting her head up to the sky.

"Cinderace!" Tracey had used bounce! The Cinderace had used those powerful legs of hers to leap into the air, and now she was bringing all that power down to bear on Venus. She struck hard, right in the center of the Venusaur's flower, scoring a critical hit that made the bulky pokemon cry out in pain, paralyzing her.

"Yes!" Alden cheered. "Excellently done, Tracey!"

"That will not be enough!" Alcea huffed. Even paralyzed, Venus wouldn't give in so easily! "Anastacia, cut down that rabbit with your power whip!"

"Tsareena!" Anastacia's hand extended in a long, sharp whip, striking at Tracey. But Tracey had so many boosts to her speed the Tsareena didn't have a hope of catching her. She leapt off Venus and flipped through the air, landing in the grass and then charging her directly.

"Pyro ball," Alden shouted.

As Tracey ran, she began dribbling a fireball that grew in size until it burned as large as a soccer ball, fully ready to strike at Anastacia. The Tsareena wasn't fast enough to dodge. She took the attack head-on, bracing against the burning pain in her stomach.

If it wasn't for the boost in her defenses, she would have fainted.

But Alden wasn't finished there. While Tracey had been building up the pyro ball, Corin had been preparing an attack of her own. She'd gathered together the energy for an aura sphere, and fired it on the heels of the pyro ball attack.

Anastacia had withstood the first assault, but the second would finish her.

"Venus!" Alcea shouted. "Use grassy glide!"

Even paralyzed, Venus could still rely on her priority moves. She shot across the grass at blinding speed and threw herself between Anastacia and the aura sphere, taking the attack directly. It hurt incredibly, but both pokemon were still standing.

"I expected no less from you!" Alden crowed, his heart pounding in his chest. His Sense was soaring and he couldn't believe how exciting this battle was!

And it wasn't just him. The crowd was getting into it, too.

"Whoa, that girl was winning until now, but that kid really managed to turn things around!" One sailor gasped.

"You know, I wonder if he really could have a chance," another mused.

"Nah, screw that, he's gonna win for sure now, her pokemon have taken too much damage," a third sneered.

Vic was thrilled. They were loving this! The people of Orre were getting invested in this battle the way she'd never seen them before, she couldn't have hoped for better!

It really was the right idea, bringing the Commander here like this.

"We won't give in the easily," Alcea said, wiping the sweat from her brow. The heat of the intense sunlight couldn't compare to the intensity of this fight.

Alden could only smile. "I love it, Allie. Really. Your 'Sense' is some of the best I've ever felt! But unfortunately, we've reached the thrilling climax! Tracey, use ally switch!"

"Cinderace!" Tracey pulled to a stop in front of the weakened Venusaur and Tsareena, and began to glow. Light shot off of her and struck Corin, the two pokemon trading places in a flash.

Corin had been brought right into the thick of things, which was just where she needed to be to finish this fight.

Alcea gasped, realizing what she'd missed. Corin had never put all of her energy into that aura sphere. It had been a feint. Alden had expected Venus to take the hit, and had never counted on the attack finishing Anastacia off. Or maybe Corin had figured that all on her own. Either way, the aura around her hadn't dispersed, it had only grown stronger.

"Let's finish things off here and now, Corin, with an attack that will light up the entire place!" Alden grinned. "Let's show her our steely resolve! Hit them with your steel beam!"

Alcea remembered this attack. She'd seen its devastating power in the Phantom Cup. And as Corin unleashed it, she didn't even have the heart to give an order to dodge. She knew there would be no point. There was nowhere to go.

Corin's aura glowed so brightly it turned from blue to solid white. She held her paws in front of her and released the energy she'd been storing up, firing a beam of destructive power so massive it engulfed Venus and Anastacia completely. It shot past Alcea and broke out across the sea in a long bridge of light that dwarfed the lighthouse in intensity, forcing everyone to shield their eyes.

When the light faded, the only pokemon that remained standing was Tracey.

Corin fell to the ground, unconscious. She had exhausted all of her strength with that attack, finishing off both pokemon at once.

Alcea collapsed, drained of strength herself. She wasn't like Alden, who seemed to gain energy from the thrill of fighting. She could go for some tea right now, but unfortunately Kate was a fair distance away, in Unova.

But as exhausted as she was, she couldn't help the smile that crossed her face. What a battle! She and her pokemon had given it their all, and even though they'd lost, it was a fight they could absolutely be proud of.

She returned Venus and Anastacia to their pokeballs for a good rest, and Alden did the same with his pokemon. The grass and foliage withered away and the pavement returned, and as it did, she realized that something was wrong.

Things were so… quiet.

Vic noticed it, too. She looked around, confused. Usually at the end of a battle that intense, there would be cheers of excitement and joy. That battle had been amazing! It was short and sweet, and had been gripping the whole way through. And certainly there were cheers, but compared to the size of the audience they were far too small.

It was with a heavy heart that she realized what she was missing.

The students from the Pokemon Academy that had stopped to watch were cheering, as well as a few from her own group. Even Callie had gotten in on it, enjoying the thrill of the battle even though she'd been rooting for Alcea. (Could you really blame her? A Fighting type pokemon had been the star of the stage!)

"What, so that was it?"

"What a letdown."

"I was hoping that girl'd put up a better fight than that, that was pathetic."

She couldn't believe her ears. The same sailors who not five minutes ago were getting excited and invested in the fight were now grousing, talking about how lame it had been. Was this for real? They'd just been…

She clenched her fist and turned towards the dispersing crowd, ready to give them a piece of her mind. But her mom stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Mom?! But…" She turned back to Rui, but she stopped when she saw the sad look on her mother's face.

Rui shook her head.

"There's no point, sweetheart," she sighed. Inside, she wept for her daughter. "They'll get invested in the battle while it's happening, sure. But once it's over… that's it. That's just how it is in the Orre Region. Nobody cares about battles beyond who's going to win or lose. Once that happens, that's the end of it. You know how it goes."

Vic clenched her teeth and suppressed a scream. It wasn't right to give into her emotions like that. She had to be the calm and stoic right hand to the Commander. But seeing how hard he had tried, how much of himself he'd given to that battle, to make it an exciting spectacle for the people of Orre, and to see how little they had cared…

It killed her inside. She wanted to cry like she was a little girl again.

"That was a great fight, Allie!"

Alden's voice cut through the darkness building up in her heart. Stunned, she turned back to see the dazzling light of the man she idolized.

The Commander crossed the plaza with a smile on his face as bright as the sun blazing overhead. He took Alcea by the hand and helped her to her feet, before shaking her hand excitedly.

"That was so exciting! My Sense was surging the entire time! You're one of the strongest trainers I've ever fought, no wonder they call you the Queen of Queens!" Alden gushed, his face filled with nothing but joy. He wasn't bothered in the slightest by the fact that the people of Orre had completely ignored the fight after he had won.

Alcea was a little taken aback at first, but quickly shared in his smile. "Oui. It was quite enjoyable. An excellent fight, is it? We gave it our all, but it just wasn't enough, sadly."

"Nah, not at all! Next time you guys might get us," Alden grinned. "We'll have to battle again, real soon! The moment we get some more free time, we absolutely need to have a full battle, I can't wait to see you strut your stuff!"

Alden was already imagining the next battle. He didn't care at all about the result of this one. He was filled with a pure love of combat.

And that was what Vic loved about him.

She couldn't help but smile. She'd gotten so caught up in the "reason" that she'd brought him here, she'd forgotten the kind of guy he was in the first place. Sure, it was important to the Commander that they spread a love of pokemon battles through the Orre Region, that was the reason they were creating the Battle Frontier here in the first place.

But ultimately, what Alden really cared about was the battle.

A battle was a reason all to its own, it was something that he could be passionate about, and there was no one he wanted to share that passion with more than his opponent.

So everybody stopped caring after the battle was over. So what? If it was so easy to change their minds, there wouldn't be a reason to create the Battle Frontier here in the first place.

If they wouldn't be won over by the first battle, then the second. If not the second, then the third. Or the tenth. Or the hundredth. She had absolute faith in the Commander's ability to share his love of battling with the Orre Region.

After all… he's the reason why I loved battling again, she reminded herself, smiling proudly.

Rui smiled in relief at her daughter. She was glad that Vic seemed to be doing a little better. Yeah, you really did find yourself a nice man, sweetheart.

So Alden defeated Alcea in the end! But unfortunately, the people of Orre's hearts still weren't swayed. But that's okay, we're just getting started! There's still a long time before this arc is over, and hopefully they can turn that bad attitude around and get some people excited! Can the Commander bring the love of battling back to the Orre Region?