The swimsuit contest has begun! Donoma, Lila, and Darla have all gone, and now it's time to see who's coming up next! We've still got a lot of girls to get through, and not all of them have the same level of confidence as those three from the Appeals Course! How will Giselle and Chloe approach the swimsuit contest, I wonder?

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: I don't know, we'll just have to see where the contest goes from here. I will say though, Chloe's turn is coming up soon.

KedharS: Yeah. Darla likes being an idol, but when it comes to something stupid like this she's much less interested. At the same time, though, that's what gives her the air of being a cool beauty, which all her fans adore.

Rowlets and Oshawotts: Yep, there are still a few more fun instances to come. Other girls in swimsuits, a lead-in to the main event.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 897

After Darla, the next girl to come out of the changing room was Giselle. It was a surprise that Giselle had agreed to take part in this competition to begin with, because she wasn't the type of person to put herself in focus like this.

But right now, Giselle had her own interests to think about. She wasn't the biggest fan of swimsuit competitions, sure, but she was very concerned with getting Olivia's attention. She still felt a little wounded by the fact that the Empress didn't give her any mind. She knew that it was immature to care that much about what someone else thought of her, but she couldn't help it.

Olivia was just that impressive.

So yeah, of course Giselle was going to do it! She was going to enter the competition, and she was going to try her best.

She just had to work up the courage first, that was all. Once she did that then she was good to go.

Easier said than done. It couldn't be understated how intimidating it was to go out there after Darla and Lila. Even if Darla was a slightly easier performance to follow, she was still Darla Drake. She was still an idol with an underground following expected to make it big on the main stage once she graduated from school.

Meanwhile, she was just a girl who came from a family of caretakers and trainers, with lofty aspirations of becoming a Top Coordinator someday.

Or maybe writing a book. Being a pokemon novelist seemed a lot less intimidating than putting herself out there on the stage.

Giselle shook her head and slapped her cheeks to clear her mind.

What are you thinking?! She chastised herself. Are you really backing out of this now? You do this all the time! Whenever you feel intimidated, you take a step back and begin to doubt yourself! But you're not going to do that again, not here, not now!

Giselle had difficulties when it came to putting herself in the spotlight. She was the kind of girl who preferred to shine the light on other people and put their feelings first before her own, that's why it was so hard for her to be a Coordinator.

But she wanted to change that aspect of herself. She wanted to be like Ayame, who she admired. Ayame, who always charged into things with her head held high. And even when she doubted herself, she didn't let those doubts way her down, she kept pursuing her dreams.

Giselle wished she could do something like that. But no, every time she had the opportunity to pursue her dream and take a step forward, she always held herself back, because she was afraid of putting herself out there and failing.

And whenever she held herself back like that, she would always remind herself, "it's okay. Even if I can't become a Top Coordinator, I can still write my novel."

But that wasn't an honest dream. She wasn't serious about being a novelist, not really. Oh, sure, she loved writing, and could imagine a future where she was a famous, published author. But reality doesn't work that way. For her, "writing a novel" wasn't an honest dream that she was pursuing anymore than being a Top Coordinator was. It was just an excuse to not try. Telling herself that she could still be a novelist, and therefore it was okay if she failed.

She wasn't a fool. She knew how hard it was to get published. And she wasn't taking any steps to seriously become an author. She wouldn't have any better luck there.

So no more running away. She was a senior already, it was time to seriously consider her future. And the start of that was showing the Empress and all the other students in the Appeals Course that she could compete with them!

It was that assurance that finally gave her the courage to step out of the changing room and face the judges.

And… wow. That crowd was a lot bigger than she'd expected.

Between Donoma, Lila, and Darla, they had managed to gather together a truly staggering amount of watchful eyes curious about what was going on. It was a comparable number to an audience in a Pokemon Contest, at least that's what Giselle felt when she stared out into the crowd.

For a moment, her confidence baulked. But she summoned strength she didn't know she had and stepped forward into the sand, trying her hardest to look her best.

The only problem was that Giselle hadn't really dressed the part. She hadn't come to the Orre Region planning to join a swimsuit contest, so the outfit she was wearing right now wasn't anything that impressive.

But that's not to say it didn't look good on her! She wore a black one-piece that was styled a lot like the one Lila had worn, looking more like a dress than swimwear. But it was a different kind of dress. It was designed to imitate a cheongsam, with a flap handing over the front and back to frame her bare thighs nicely. A golden pattern of flowers wrapped around the outside and over her chest, drawing attention there, as well. And finally, she tied up her dark hair into a ponytail to reveal her neck.

The effect worked out pretty well, she felt, and the crowd certainly agreed. While it wasn't as flashy as Donoma's or as perfectly-designed for her as Lila's was, it was something unique, and that made her stand out in her own way compared to the other girls.

It helped that Giselle was already pretty attractive.

Not hearing any boos or jeers from the crowd, Giselle picked up the pace, walking a little more confidently up to the table. She flashed a smile to the judges, and hoped that she could at least get a decent score. Even if she didn't know how she should pose properly.

This time, Lukas was the first one to speak. "Gotta say, Giselle, this is pretty nice," he said, nodding approvingly. "You look like you're really trying your hardest, and I appreciate that! I think that's deserving of a pretty good score, don't you guys agree? I'm thinking you get a 7 for sure."

Giselle's anxiety lessened slightly. A 7. That was pretty good. It wasn't the best, but it was at least comparable with the scores Lukas had given the other girls, so she knew that at least he wasn't seeing her as repulsive or anything.

Allen was the next one. "Lukas is right, I think that the design if pretty good," he agreed. "It's definitely giving a unique air that suits your style quite well, in my opinion. So on that end, I feel comfortable giving it a high rating. It's also something that you're clearly used to wearing, and compliments your figure and color. But when it comes to you, I'm not so sure. I feel a dress like that, the important part is making the wearer stand out, and I don't feel any of that right now. So I'm not sure if it's the best fit for you, even if it seems to be on the surface."

Giselle didn't even know what to make of that estimation, but then, she never did where Allen was concerned. So she just gave an awkward shrug.

Allen cleared his throat. "Anyway, I think it would be fair to give you a 7 out of 10, as well," he agreed, giving her the same score as Lukas.

That made Giselle feel a lot better. She was actually scoring high!

Alden was the last vote, though, and his votes were a little harder to predict. He was definitely the wild card at the table.

He looked at her swimsuit with a thoughtful eye for a few seconds, and then shrugged. "I'll go with a 7 then," he decided.

Lukas and Allen's ratings were a pleasant surprise. But that was a response that completely blew Giselle away! She stared slackjawed at the Commander, all attempts at maintaining her composure falling by the wayside.

He… was he serious? That was the highest score Alden had given anyone today! And it put her in second place, right behind Lila!

"Dude, are you serious?" Lukas asked, more in a tone of surprise than one in confusion or disagreement. "Dang, nice work Giselle!"

Alden shrugged. "I like the flower pattern," he admitted. "And since you guys were rating it a 7, I figured that was a safe guess."

He was a pretty simple guy that way. He liked the design of the swimsuit better than any of the other ones, but he couldn't really put a number on it. So he waited to hear what the other two had to say, and decided that they must have known what they were talking about.

Giselle was still surprised. She'd forgotten the entire purpose of the competition at this point, and wasn't even trying to show off to the crowd anymore as she walked over to the other competitors with a dumbstruck look on her face.

She hadn't expected that outcome, that was for sure.

Another surprise in store for her though was the fact that none of the other girls seemed upset, not even Donoma. They all gave her some congratulations, even if Darla's was a little more begrudging than the other girls.

Then came the next competitor. And that's when things really started to get interesting.

They'd made it through half the girls at this point, and the only one remaining were Olivia, Alcea, Vic, and Chloe.

Normally, when it came to something like this, Chloe would want to go last. If Giselle was the kind of girl who didn't like drawing attention to herself, Chloe was the queen.

Any chance she got to turn the attention of others away from her, she would take it. Wearing clothes that didn't suit her figure, covering her face with a mask and bangs, anything to stay under the radar, she would take it. She wanted to put off that horrible moment of judgment from the audience for as long as possible, and hope they would lose interest by the end.

But she knew that in this instance, that just wasn't a feasible strategy. And that was because of who she was competing against.

Chloe didn't want to follow any of the others. Alcea and Olivia… going after them would be like sending a Trubbish out after a Milotic. She could tell from the volume that a large crowd was outside, and she wouldn't even be able to walk straight if they were looking at her and comparing her to those beauties! It would be horrible!

And then there was Vic. Vic, who had been opposed to this idea at the start before coming around to it, and didn't look any happier for it either. She'd been just as vocally opposed to Chloe joining the group, and now that Chloe was here, well…

She didn't look any happier about that, either.

Needless to say, Chloe didn't want to have to go after Vic any more than she wanted to go after Olivia and Alcea.

But following Giselle? She could do that. Giselle was pretty, but not in the same league as a lot of the other girls. She wouldn't be under such heavy scrutiny if she went next, right? That's what she convinced herself when she walked out of the changing room and into the sun, putting herself at the mercy of the crowd.

Strictly speaking, she didn't actually look that bad. Her long hair was still up in pigtails (with a little bit trailing down the back as well) but she'd clipped up her bangs to show her blue eye. Her eye-patch was revealed as well, but she just had to hope that it wouldn't cause any weird glances. More impressively was the fact that she'd worked up the courage to remove her face mask. As someone with a crippling fear of being scrutinized, her face mask was as valuable a tool as her bangs to keep people from looking at her. But for the sake of the contest and for the sake of pushing past her own doubts and self-esteem issues, she'd managed to work out the courage to remove it, revealing her lovely features.

And it couldn't be said she wasn't beautiful. While she wouldn't be knocking people over like Olivia or Alcea, she definitely had a face that could turn a few heads, and a body to match. So when she put it on display like this, it was notable.

Then came the swimsuit. The outfit she wore to the beach was the most modest one of the contest yet, which wasn't much of a surprise considering who it was coming from.

Donoma had wanted something steamy and saucy, with girls in skimpy clothes drawing the lascivious glances of the men in the crowd. But she wasn't getting that with her choice of competitors, that was for sure. At least not yet.

If Lila's and Giselle's swimsuits resembled dresses, Chloe's swimsuit took that to the ultimate extreme. It was practically a diving suit with how much it covered, sleek and shiny and black, with sleeves reaching down to her upper arms and even a makeshift pair of trunks that reached mid-thigh. She even wore a pair of black gloves to go with it, begging the question of whether or not such a design was meant to be a swimsuit at all. There was even a cute black dress attached to the suit, looking even more out of place for something made for swimming.

It couldn't be helped, though. Chloe had picked out this swimsuit specifically because she expected that they'd be forced to go swimming at some point, and she didn't want anyone noticing the scars from her Druddigon on her arms and shoulders.

At the same time, though, her decision may have had the opposite effect.

Even though Chloe didn't want to draw attention to herself, the nature of her swimsuit meant that it highlighted her body quite well. And it was quite a body to highlight. She was petite and yet curvaceous, and every contour was plain to see.

So even if it hadn't been her intention, she was still drawing the gazes of boys, who were admiring her skintight clothes and imagining what she would look like without them.

Chloe just walked straight forward and didn't think about it. She was too caught up in her own head to pick up on the stares of the audience, and that was something she would be thankful for if she knew about it. She'd die of embarrassment if she could hear what they were thinking about her! She'd fall right over!

Right now, though, all of her energy was spent on trying to walk without making a complete embarrassment of herself. Her pale face was red with shame but she tried not to let it show the best she could, trying to walk just a little faster so she could get to the judges' table as soon as humanly possible and have this be over.

It didn't work.

Caught up in her own insecurities, she tripped and planted her face in the sand. She gasped, pulling herself up and spitting it out as she desperately wiped herself, unable to hide the embarrassment any longer.

At least she didn't cry, that was the thought that reassured her as she made it to the table and threw herself upon the mercy of the judges.

"S-So… yeah…" She mumbled out, not even having the strength to look confident.

She waited to hear what they had to say. She knew she'd messed up big time with that little trip, and it was only the fact that no one had burst out laughing that had kept her from running back to the safety of the changing room.

Chloe had entered this contest because Vic had told her to, and because she wanted to get a little bit better at facing crowds now that she was going to be part of the Commander's group. It was necessary, after all.

But right now, she was regretting that decision quite a lot.

She shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other, wondering why the judges weren't saying anything about her swimsuit.

If the stares from the audience had been intense, Chloe could barely withstand the judges' scrutinizing eyes.

The crowd of beachgoers were judging her, sure, but all onlookers judged her, and at some point, Chloe had learned to tune most of it out.

But that wasn't the same with people who were actually assigned to judge her. And after she'd messed up like that, they must all be thinking that she was an awful mess! Oh god, she could just die, why weren't they saying anything?!

Of course, deep down some part of Chloe was aware that she was making a mountain out of a Drilbur hill. She was thinking a mile a minute, and in fact these thoughts passed through her skull in the span of a few seconds.

She needed to focus. She should just take a deep breath, calm down, and-

"Well," Allen said, nearly causing Chloe to fall over again, "that was certainly an interesting display, Miss Rosenberg."

Chloe didn't know what to say to that. "Um… sorry?"

Allen ignored her. "Your swimsuit is certainly a unique design. It looks like something a lot more suited for deep sea diving than it is for presenting yourself at a contest. In fact, it looks to me like you're trying to hide behind it, rather than wear it with pride. This leads to an effect where it appears that the swimsuit itself is getting insulted. I don't believe that was your intention, of course, but it can't be ignore that that is the effect that you're giving off. I'm sorry if that judgment sounds a little too harsh, but to me it feels like while that swimsuit is a good fit, it's not quite a good fit for you. I'm going to have to give you a 5 out of 10."

Chloe winced. Hearing those words from Allen certainly stung. But she couldn't say anything back to him, either. She just nodded in resignation.

"Personally, I like it," Lukas shrugged. He cracked a grin at Chloe. "Especially the part where you fell! It really gave off this clumsy shy vibe that I think goes well with your swimsuit, so even though it isn't the best design, I still think it was a nice performance. 7 from me."

Chloe gave him an awkward half-smile. That was sweet? Apparently? She still felt wounded that he was taking such delight in her little trip, because that had NOT been intentional. Did he think she was the kind of person who would do a bit? Were all Appeals Course members that insensitive?

That just left the Commander. She didn't even want to look his way out of fear of what score he would give her.

Alden shrugged. Like previous times, he didn't really know what to make of her swimsuit, so he just gave her a vague estimation.

"It's okay, I guess," he said. "I'll give it a 5."

Chloe had gotten the lowest score out of the girls so far, but in her mind, that was to be expected. It wasn't like she really thought she would be able to compete with them, after all! And while that didn't make it sting any less, it still helped her a little.

Without another word, and trying her best not to cry from fatigue or trip, Chloe joined the other girls and tried to make herself look as small as possible.

Yikes. Poor Chloe. She tried to better herself, but the judges were still harsh. She has a long way to go to get out of her shell. But at least Giselle seems to be on the right path herself! Now that we've finished with the opening act, though, the contest can really start going strong in the next chapter! Remember to review!