Now, what you've all been waiting for ever since the announcement of the beach arc! It's the swimsuit contest chapter! Which girl will pull off their swimsuit the best? Who will win the adoration of the crowd and the respect of the judges? What will be the outcome of this mess?! Will Alden actually give a girl a compliment about something other than their "Sense"? We'll have to see!

KedharS: Yep. Need some good bonding moments between Ayame and Hiromi to offset the growing darkness of this arc. Hence why I'm trying to squeeze as much wholesomeness in as I can while I still can.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: We'll have to see just what it is all the girls have chosen to wear, and hopefully the contest will end without bloodshed.

Aakareo Kokokuhikari: If Ange was invited to participate in the Phantom Cup, she would have said no. Something like that is pointless to her, and would have only pissed her off.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 896

Callie felt the warm sunlight on her skin and stretched. It was a lovely day out, and even though it was hot as it had been yesterday, the beach was as cool as yesterday, too.

She didn't feel as nervous about her swimsuit as she did before. It wasn't that skimpy, it was a sleek athletic one-piece colored black and white. But yesterday she'd still be trembling with embarrassment at the idea of being seen in it, even though she really wanted to go swimming in the ocean. She was willing to put up with a few looks of derision turned her way if it meant going for an invigorating swim and luxuriating nicely.

But she hadn't needed to worry. Because yesterday, she had been here with Alcea. Last time, that had been one of the causes of anxiety for her. A beauty like Alcea, strolling down the beach with her? It would look like a smoking hot model taking her dorky little sister on a swimming trip, she had thought she would die of shame.

That was not the case. Callie had vastly underestimated just how attractive Alcea really was. People weren't comparing the two of them when they were together at the beach, because nobody even noticed that Callie was there. Callie had been completely eclipsed by Alcea's dazzling figure and beautiful looks, and because of that Callie had spent the entire day without a single set of eyes focused on her.

Normally, she would have felt even more inferior. But maybe it was because she was maturing as a person, but she hadn't actually taken it that poorly.

Well… Nick was the only one I wanted to see in my swimsuit anyway, so this is nice, too.

Today was shaping up to be even brighter. With all the cute girls, no one would even think about turning their attention towards Callie and mocking her for looking like a little kid. She'd just have to try her best to not get intimidated by the level of beauty that she was hanging around with, just like she'd managed to do yesterday.

…It was a pretty different scale, though.

Well at least… I can keep working on my tan… Callie tried to reassure herself. Just because no one would be drawing any comparisons between her and the other girls didn't mean she wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb in their company. Maybe Maddi had the right idea to go fishing.

She quickly shook that thought out of her mind. No, Callie! You're here for Alcea's sake, remember? Because you're her friend now, you've gotta be there for her to give her support! This way we can build our bonds with both the Commander and the Empress!

Well, she said it was about building bonds, but Callie could only see this competition as the beginning of even more carnage. Hell, what if Alcea beat Olivia? The Empress would hate her even more. But it wasn't like Callie could just root against her friend, either…

At the end of the day, all Callie could do was admit that this whole thing was one big mess, and there was nothing she could change about it, so she might as well hang on and see where everything ends up going.

And work on her tan. She could do that, too. She was excited about coming back to the Pokemon Academy with a freshly-bronzed hue, imagining the expression on Nick's face when he saw her new looks.

Yeah, the beach wasn't as bad as she thought.

In the meantime though, they had to get through the swimsuit contest first.

Callie wasn't alone on the beach, of course, the other students were there, too. Mostly, the guys from the Commander's group. She was standing among them like an awkward flower amongst a field of confused and bored guys who would rather be doing something else, but couldn't leave because they didn't have a chaperone (and Vic would eat them alive).

The only exception to this was the Commander himself. Vic and Olivia had both insisted that Alden should be one of the judges for the swimsuit contest, with the other two judges being Lukas and Allen for a total of three. The boys had pulled up a picnic table in front of the changing room, and that was about as good of a judge's podium as they could make on such short notice.

The slap-dash nature of this affair was pretty amusing, Callie had to admit, especially for the productions that the Appeals Course students were used to putting on. There wasn't even an announcer or anything like that.

Lukas decided to take that role himself. He checked his phone, and stood up. "Okay, the girls say that they're ready," he said, turning to the other two. "And the first one to come out will be… Donoma Marama!"

Donoma strutted out of the changing room first, and really made a big entrance. She intentionally enhanced her walk to be as sultry as possible, which caught the eye of more than a few casual beachgoers. Alcea and Olivia were hot, sure, but Donoma knew how to work her looks for this explicit purpose, and there was a reason she had decided to go first.

She was wearing the same swimsuit she wore the day before, but this time she'd gone all-out. Removing the cover-up and the sun hat, she was bearing her high-cut bikini in all its glory, and the guys were eating it up.

Donoma stopped in front of the judges' table and placed her hand on her hip, cocking it to the side and flashing a coy grin.

"Well? What do you think, boys?" She asked, giving them a flirtatious wink.

Allen answered automatically.

"The color is acceptable and blends with your natural tones well. But the fabric itself is rather cheap. I can't say I'd recommend the swimsuit to any customers. And while it does a decent job of drawing attention to the wearer's body, it also feels a little tacky and overly erotic. Not the sort of thing I'd recommend for serious beachwear," he explained. "So I'm only going to be giving you 7 points out of 10."

Donoma's jaw actually dropped, she was so stunned by that response that her flirtatious air had completely evaporated for a second. That was not the kind of answer she expected to get about her swimsuit from a guy.

"I, uh… I don't think you get the point of this contest," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "Whatever, enough out of you clothing freak. Lukas knows what I'm talking about, don't you?" She turned to him next, leaning over to emphasize her cleavage.

Lukas couldn't deny that he was tempted. Donoma's body was as alluring as he remembered. But he also had to remember that the girl whose body it was wasn't the kind of person he should be attracted to. So he cleared his thoughts along with his throat.

"It's okay," he managed to get out. "I mean… yeah, hot. So yeah, I'll give it an 8." He didn't know what else he could say that wouldn't make him look like a stuttering fool.

Donoma seemed to find this a passable answer, so she turned to Alden for the final vote. On this one, she went all-in on the seduction, leaning over the table so far she was practically shoving her boobs in his face.

She really wanted to see if she could get him flustered. The Commander dedicated his attention solely to pokemon battles, and she wasn't even sure if he saw girls that way.

But she wanted to make sure. Boy, did she want to make sure. It would be so amusing if she could get him to fall for her, even though the better part of her brain knew that doing something like that around Vic was suicide.

A reaction, though? It should be fine if she could get a reaction out of him, right?

"It's nice," Alden said genuinely, flashing her a smile completely devoid of illicit thoughts.

"…Nice," Donoma repeated, giving him a look as if asking "that's it?"

Alden shrugged. "I've never done something like this before," he admitted. "So I don't really know what I'm supposed to be rating you on. Like I said before, you should really ask someone else to do this job, I'm not a good fit."

Donoma sighed. Alden wasn't wrong. He really was the wrong sort of guy to pose a question like this one to. But at the same time, Donoma couldn't just let him sit off on the sidelines with all the other guys that didn't care, either, because that wouldn't make for anything entertaining.

"Well… think about it this way," Donoma said, finally deciding to cut to the chase. She wanted to make Alden conscious of her, so she needed to drag him down that path kicking and screaming. "When you're judging the girls on their swimsuits, just think which one is the prettiest, and give out scores judging how pretty you think they are, okay?"

Alden seemed pretty nonplussed. He sighed, and shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, then… I guess, like, a 5?"

She snapped.

"A 5?! You're giving me a 5?! For this?!" She waved her hand at her body again like Alden hadn't already seen it. "Are you blind or something?! You would call something like this a 5?!"

Lukas was resisting the urge to break out laughing. "Calm down Donoma," he managed to get out through chuckles. "It's the judge's discretion what they want to rate you, isn't that how these contests work?"

Donoma shot him a withering glare and muttered something under her breath, but she didn't press the issue. Incensed, she stormed off to the sidelines.

The whistles and catcalls from the guys she passed by were a good salve for her irritation, but she still wanted to sock that stupid Commander a good one.

Lukas sobered up after a few minutes, and they were ready to move onto the next round. He texted Olivia, asking her who was going to come out next.

"Okay, our next girl… is Lila!" He declared, relieved that he would get to see something normal. Lila, at least, could be counted on not turning this into a pseudo-strip show.

Lila walked out next, and once again the eyes of the boys were filled with hearts. No one could blame them, either. Donoma was hot, sure, and definitely someone that most of the guys on the beach would kill for a chance to be with. But Lila conveyed a different air with her swimsuit, and it was definitely working.

For her swimsuit, Lila had chosen a one-piece. It was bright pink, like everything she owned, and styled similarly to a dress. It had its own little skirt, and was very modest, especially compared to what Donoma was wearing. The sort of look that fit a girl like her.

Lila was beautiful, of course, she always had to look her best given her line of work. But where Donoma was pretty in a sexual way, Lila was pretty in an adorable way. She straddled the line between "hot as hell starlet" and "cute as a button girl next door" flawlessly, like she had been born to do it. Her smile lit up the whole beach, and while Donoma had focused on seducing the judges, Lila was putting her skills on the stage to good use. She was waving at the audience, throwing smiles their way and staring at each guy there like he was the only person in her eyes. And because of that, folks were cheering.

Loudly.

"Wow! I'm so glad you guys are all here to support little old me!" Lila cooed, her skillful manipulation of the beachgoers leading the crowd to multiply at an alarming rate. Whereas before, a few curious onlookers had gathered to see what was going on, now practically every straight guy on the beach was watching the show, and falling in love with Lila's performance.

Donoma rolled her eyes while smiling inwardly. She didn't need to feel jealous. These were the kinds of numbers that were ratings gold, and it just reinforced in her mind that she had made the right decision when it came to organizing this event.

Oh yeah, she was going to find some way to get a smile like Lila's on a reality television show before graduation, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Lila stopped in front of the judges and smiled sweetly, even though she knew they could see right through her act.

"Well, you definitely chose a swimsuit that emphasizes your best features," Allen said, adjusting his glasses. "The materials are perfect, no complaints there, and it's tailored to fit… I believe that the skirt is definitely a nice touch, it really captures a pure vibe. I think that you deserve an 8 out of 10 from me for this ensemble, I would have tried to accessorize with another color."

Lila nearly broke character. "Oh? What do you mean?" She asked, trying not to scowl.

"While no one can question that pink is a color that looks great on you, there are other considerations to be made here," Allen explained. "If you tried to accentuate the pink with something a little darker, it would make the whole outfit stand out. As it is, I think it just feels very one-note to me, at least on a professional level."

Lila tried not to get offended. "I like pink," she muttered under her breath, turning to Lukas.

"I think you look pretty good," Lukas said. "Nothing to complain about here, you really know how to make your swimsuit look nice on your body, and when it comes to attracting guys, well…" He glanced over at the crowd forming outside of the fenced off perimeter they'd established, and waved his hand. "You see?"

"So?" Lila asked hopefully.

"I'll give you an 8, too," he decided.

That just left Alden. Lila turned to him, not really expecting all that much. She'd heard Donoma's shouts from all the way in the changing room, so she knew that when it came to assessing beauty she had a better chance of asking a pokemon than the Commander.

At least Alden was trying his best. He scrunched up his face thoughtfully, staring at Lila with such scrutiny she was actually starting to get a little embarrassed. But she knew that he wasn't going to be thinking about her that way.

Of course he wasn't. He was just trying to do what Donoma said and make his best judgment about Lila's appearance, so he could rate it. But unfortunately, he was still Alden.

He gave up and shrugged. "I guess… a 6?" He said, more or less pulling the number out of thin air. He couldn't really compare Donoma and Lila's outfits to each other, but Lila seemed to have gotten a more positive reaction from the crowd so he figured they must know something that he didn't.

Lila walked over to Donoma and stood next to her, barely disguising the smirk on her face. She'd gotten more points! Ha!

Callie, on the other hand, could only see this contest getting more ridiculous from here. Hell, why were they even competing? There hadn't been a prize declared or anything, this whole competition was just for fun!

Of course, it was only natural for Darla to proceed after Lila, Lukas didn't even bother checking his phone to confirm.

She walked confidently out of the changing room, holding her head up high.

Lila had raised the bar quite high, and for a second it was a question of whether or not Darla could meet the expectations.

And frankly… she couldn't. When Lila was "on", even Darla had a hard time matching her energy on the stage, that's why Lila was the cute and upbeat one, while Darla was the cool and reserved one. Both idols had their fans, but Lila probably had more.

The reactions from the audience played that out truthfully. While no one was losing interest in the contest, considering Darla was still hot as hell, there wasn't nearly the level of cheering that there had been for Lila.

Of course, the real reason for that was that unlike Lila, Darla didn't CARE. She wasn't trying to win this contest or catch the eyes of the dumb guys on the beach, she was really only here for Lila's sake since her partner wanted to show off and have fun.

So Darla just walked up to the judges' table like it was nothing.

Her cool, dismissive attitude like she didn't care about the audience was actually a pretty effective tactic, and Callie had to question if it was intentional. Darla had the kind of resting bitch face that made her stern looks still very alluring, so even if she wasn't trying she was still smoking.

Plus, her swimsuit was nothing to scoff at, either. She'd worn a black bikini with blue highlights, which contrasted perfectly with the deep tan of her skin and her red eyes. It gave her a charming allure in comparison to the pale blonde, and she had the figure to match.

"Okay, get it over with," she said coldly, which won her even more points with the crowd. Things were slowly turning around for her.

"The dark colors bring out the warm glow of your tan quite well," Allen had to admit. "But I think if you wore something brighter to emphasize the contrast, it would make the swimsuit itself stand out more. It seems like your ensemble today is designed to make you look more appealing, but not the swimsuit itself… I don't think I can rate you any higher than a 6, even if it's very nice."

That nearly sent Lukas into conniptions, but Darla didn't really care. She turned to him next.

"I gotta say, Allen, you really know how to make this kind of contest amusing," Lukas cackled. "Rating the swimsuits as if they're independent from the girls… oh well, whatever. Darla, I think you look nice, but Lila looked better. 7 out of 10."

Darla shrugged. She didn't really care.

Alden was the last judge to comment as usual, and he was no better able to discern the allure of Darla's swimsuit than he had been with Donoma and Lila.

"4 I guess, I don't know," he shrugged. He just wasn't good at stuff like this.

Darla didn't care about getting a lower score than the other girls, and she also didn't care about the cheers as she passed the audience. She stood up next to Lila and just waited for this whole thing to be over.

Callie nodded sympathetically. She could understand that position.

The swimsuit contest has gotten off to a rather amusing start! It seems the girls are getting a lot of attention! So what do you think, do you agree with the judges? We haven't seen all the girls yet, who's going to be the victor of this meaningless event?