Wes and Alden's battle has reached the climax! Wes's final pokemon, his Tyranitar, faces off against the two last pokemon of the Commander, his Cinderace and his Swampert! Tensions are high as the battle comes to a conclusion, who will win? Will Vic be able to pass her test, and learn the truth about her past?

The Nomination Round for the Pokemon Academy Best Girl Competition has begun! Here are the current nominees! We've got eleven girls so far, which is quite a good number already, and this is just day one! If there is anyone else that hasn't been nominated yet, be sure to nominate them!

Currently Nominated: Ange, Ayame, Caelia, Cynthia, Elaina, Marion, Misato, Sango, Satsuki, Sylvia, Vic

KedharS: Okay, added.

JoshGamerV: Interesting.

Aakareo Kokokuhikari: Ian isn't here because of memes.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 949

Vic could barely take it. The battle had reached its climax, and her heart was pounding in her chest a mile a minute.

The Commander had two pokemon left, and her father only had one. In numerical terms Alden would have the advantage in an ordinary battle, let alone in a double battle. But there was more to the story than that. Even though Wes's Tyranitar had less than half of his health remaining, he was still in very good shape. Conversely, both of Alden's pokemon had taken severe damage over the course of the battle, and both looked like they could fall over at any minute.

That was just going by appearances, though. Vic could see deeper than that. She could feel the urge to win coming from Finn and Tracey, and she knew the Commander's pokemon well. Willpower was almost as strong as real strength when it came to them.

If his pokemon refused to fall, there was a good chance they would keep standing, fighting until the very end. Even if Giraud was the beast she knew he was, she couldn't help but feel a little hopeful that Alden could, somehow, pull this off.

After all, having hope was the only thing she could do at this point.

While Vic prayed silently, Rui stood beside her in silent contemplation. She wasn't watching the match as much as she was watching her daughter. Because for Vic, this was a significant moment. A turning point, in a manner of speaking.

Her daughter had always believed in the Commander's strength. She didn't just have feelings for him, she practically idolized him. Enough so that she would put her future in his hands, and trust that he would see it through.

At least, that was what she hoped for, anyway. Could Vic really hold faith even when confronted with her father's strength? Could she keep believing in him, even if the odds seemed impossible? This wasn't an unwinnable match, of course, it was still entirely likely that Alden could win.

But in the very likely chance that he couldn't, would her heart be able to handle that? Could she continue believing in him right until the end? That was what Rui was the most concerned with, not the outcome of the match itself.

She trusted her daughter. And she loved her daughter. And that was why hurting her like this, forcing her to go through with this trial, was hurting Rui more than anything she'd ever been through before. For the first time, she honestly began to doubt Ryoko's trustworthiness, even after everything the strange woman had done for her family and for the Orre Region.

The only reason she'd agreed to this trial was because she thought it was the only way that she might be able to get Vic to truly change. To stop being hostile and unfriendly, and maybe, just maybe, go back to the sweet little girl she used to be before the harshness of the Orre Region lit the fire of cynicism in her chest.

It would all come down to this battle in the end.

"Finn! Use hydro pump!" Alden ordered immediately. Giraud's iron defense could protect him against physical attacks, but the power of a pressurized blast of water would blow him away.

"Swampert!" Finn reared back on his hind legs and opened his mouth, firing a massive blast of water at the Tyranitar.

"Giraud, dark pulse," Wes said. With a roar, Giraud gathered dark energy in his body and fired it out in a compressed beam, striking the hydro pump. The two attacks collided in the center of the battlefield, pushing back and forth for a few seconds before exploding.

"Whoa, no way! Are you kidding me?!" Callie exclaimed in disbelief. "That Tyranitar managed to counter a hydro pump with a dark pulse?!"

"That's not all, look at that Swampert," Alcea said, narrowing her eyes. Callie glanced at Finn, and gasped again.

"It's glowing blue! Wait, then that means that attack was boosted by Torrent as well?! Is that… no way, that's not even possible!"

"What a terrifying pokemon," Chloe whimpered, shaking a little. She quickly regained her composure though. As intimidating as this battle was, she was a strategist first and foremost, and she should have been treating this as an opportunity to learn more about the Commander and his different fighting techniques.

Alden, of course, wasn't daunted at all by the fact that one of Finn's strongest moves had been negated so easily. He was thrilled.

"Isn't that exciting, Finn?" He asked, grinning at his Swampert. "I've never seen a pokemon that could withstand a move like that! It's got my 'Sense' surging! Let's go, Finn, Tracey, we're going to work together on this next one! Hit him with your hydro pump again, Finn!"

"Swamp!" Finn nodded, preparing another blast of water.

"He's got to be careful," Ross judged. "Finn only has so many hydro pumps available. If he wastes them needlessly like this, he'll run out."

"Hush!" Vic snapped. "The Commander isn't some reckless fool! If he's using hydro pump right now, then that's because he knows exactly what he's doing!"

Alden didn't really know what he was doing, he was just living in the moment like a reckless fool. "Tracey, wait for your opportunity," he said, nodding to his Cinderace.

Wes wasn't a fool though. The Commander's plan was fairly obvious. Use Finn's hydro pump to force another stalemate with Giraud, and in that time take advantage of his Tyranitar's inability to flee or fight back to strike with a double kick. It was a fairly predictable play, but not at all a poor one. A standard tactic in a double battle when the opponent only had one pokemon left on the battlefield.

It would take more than common tricks to defeat him, though.

"We won't fall for that. Giraud, use earth power."

"Tyranitar!" Giraud roared, stomping on the grass. He earth parted, pushing the sod out of the way to make room for a curtain of tectonic energy drawn right from the heart of the volcano. Roaring magma shot up around Giraud in a ring, blocking the hydro pump completely. But it didn't end there, the force of the energy shot out through the ground, burning a straight path right into Finn, knocking the pokemon off his feet.

"Swampert?!" Finn gasped in disbelief, scrambling back up.

"What a powerful move," Callie breathed.

"Offense and defense with one attack, is it?" Alcea judged. "Not only striking at the opponent, but also protecting ones' self from counterattacks. Truly a skillful play."

Vic bit her lip. That was her dad, alright. Giraud wasn't just a powerful pokemon, he was a pokemon with a lot of experience and a lot of tricks up his sleeve. And Wes was even more dangerous himself. This battle would be a difficult one, that much was certain.

The benefit of the Tyranitar's earth power was that the defensive screen he summoned had drawn most of the power from the move, meaning Finn's injuries were light. That meant there was nothing stopping him from charging right in towards the hulking pokemon.

"I see," Wes noted. "So if you can't win with special attacking, you'll resort to physical attacks instead? Rather expected. Giraud, stone edge!"

Now it Giraud's turn to go on the offensive, and go on the offensive he did. A rain of massive boulders fell down upon Finn, threatening to smash him to pieces.

But the Swampert proved surprisingly agile.

"Finn, use rock climb!" Alden ordered. Finn clung to the ground, scooting forward. When stones flew towards him he raised his powerful arms and grabbed hold, avoiding the sharp edges, and flung himself forward.

"Nice!" Callie cheered. "He's using rock climb to increase speed, that's really imaginative!"

"But he's still a long way away from closing the distance," Maddi reminded her. "And a lot can happen between now and then."

Her attention was on another pokemon, forgotten in the midst of the raining rocks. Tracey didn't need any special tricks to avoid the stone edge, her natural agility allowed her to easily evade the attack. And she was keeping out of range, as well, focusing on staying out of the Tyranitar's line of sight.

"Now, Finn!" Alden shouted when Finn was about halfway across the battlefield.

Finn pulled to a stop and opened wide, and let out a massive screech that deafened the battlefield entirely. "SWAMPERT!"

"What?!" Wes groaned, shielding his own ears from the deafening noise. Giraud roared in pain, the harsh screeching causing him to lower his defenses.

Which was just the opportunity that Tracey was waiting for.

You would think that with her giant ears, a screech attack would be exceptionally lethal for Tracey. But in fact, she withstood it quite well. After all, she could put up with a lot if it meant getting in the blows when it counted.

She needed to focus on the battle, and her trainer and partner had both just given her an excellent opportunity.

Taking advantage of her incredible leg strength she crossed the distance of the battlefield in a flash, putting her right up next to that giant Tyranitar.

When she reached him, Tracey pulled back her legs, and struck with the most powerful series of double kicks that she could muster.

The effect was instantaneous. The last time Giraud had taken a blow this severe, he had been shielded with the iron defense of his hardened scales. And even then, the force of the attack had done serious damage. But now his defenses were down, and Tracey was kicking for all she was worth.

The first kick made him double over in pain, stumbling back. It broke him out of the haze from the screech, and gave him just enough clarity for the second kick to hit him square in the jaw, shooting his head up.

He stumbled and tumbled, and for a moment it looked like he was about to fall.

But he didn't. He slammed his tail down into the ground with enough force to cause a tremor, and used it to brake himself. The impact counteracted against the force of Tracey's kick, overwhelming it, and propelling his body forward towards the shocked Cinderace.

Tracey was normally very composed, and quick on her feet. Under most conditions, she should have been able to respond to an attack from a foe as slow as Giraud, and run to safety. But she was completely shocked. After the screech, she'd thought that her double kick should have at least stunned the Tyranitar, if not knock him over entirely. She hadn't expected for a second that he would withstand the assault and strike back immediately.

Giraud slammed his head down on Tracey's, smashing her into the ground.

"Tracey!" Alden shouted.

"No way!" Callie gasped. "That was a counter just there! A flawless one!"

"TYRANITAR!" Giraud roared triumphantly, raising back up and throwing his head up toward the sky. There was blood smeared across the scales of his face, and it clearly wasn't his own.

There was no questioning the fact that Tracey was unable to battle. Not after taking a blow like that to the skull.

"You did good, Tracey," Alden said, recalling her to her pokeball. He turned to look at the panting Tyranitar. Tracey's double kick may not have been enough to finish him off, but it had certainly gotten him most of the way there, he hoped. At the very least, Giraud looked weak enough where he could believe Finn capable of taking him down.

And at the same time, the Tyranitar had never looked stronger. It was moments like these that Alden lived for!

"Finn!" He roared. "Tracey's down, so it's just you and me! Let's show that Tyranitar what we're capable of!"

"Swampert!" Finn nodded in agreement, resuming his charge towards the Tyranitar.

"Come on, Alden," Vic whisperen. Even Tracey's defeat hadn't been able to quash the fire of hope that was burning inside of her right now. She had to believe. Believe in the Commander and what he and his pokemon were capable of.

"I-I'm kinda shaking right now," Callie said, a crooked smile crossing her lips. This was the sort of battle that she had been hoping to see. Usually, battles were a way of testing her strength, so she understood where the Commander was coming from better than most people in his own organization could.

But her usual skirmishes and tests of her own capability were nothing compared to what she was seeing right now.

Wes narrowed his eyes. "You still have to reach us, you realize that. And there's no way we're going to let that happen. Giraud, use your earthquake again, and this time, give it everything that you've got, understood?!"

"Tyranitar!" Giraud roared in agreement.

Rui marveled at her husband's behavior. Usually, when she saw him fight, he was very calm and stoic, hardly showing any trace of his feelings at all. And not just in battle, he was like that most of the time. And certainly now that he was testing Vic, he would be taking on an even more professional mantle than usual.

But it seemed like he was getting just as fired up as Alden was!

She turned to look at her daughter, and saw the faintest of smiles on Vic's lips. Her eyes, normally so sharp and cold, were wide with light as she watched the Swampert charge across the grass, whispering hopeful words for the Commander's victory.

So that's why you like this boy so much, Victoria, Rui realized as she saw the adoration in his face. She'd only seen Alden fight once before, and it was a very quick battle at that. But having a chance to view a real fight on his end up close, she could see that he really was something special. Maybe it was this "Sense" or maybe it was something else, but there was something about the boy that just spoke to other people, drew them in and fired them up. It had happened to her daughter, it was happening to her husband, and heck, even she wasn't immune to the effects of it!

But passion wasn't enough to win a pokemon battle. The earthquake was devastating, and with Finn's previous injuries, it was clear that he couldn't take much more. And yet, in spite of that, he hadn't fainted yet either.

"This is amazing," Keya breathed.

"It is," Vic nodded in agreement. With only one target, all the force of the earthquake was brought to bear on Finn. The tremors made the entire mountain shake, causing Finn to stumble and nearly fall on several occasions. But he didn't stay down. He kept closing the distance between himself and the Tyranitar, refusing to give up until he reached Giraud.

Just a little bit more, Alden noted, feeling the sweat drip from his brow. Was he actually sweating? That was new. He actually felt… no, no. That wasn't right. He should be enjoying the battle for what it was, not fighting in order to win.

Yet in spite of his beliefs, in spite of what he knew in his heart to be true, there was some part of him that desperately wanted to win. He didn't mind losing, of course, that would also be fine. He was more than satisfied at just having the chance of fighting an opponent like Wes.

But he still wanted to win.

While Alden silently urged Finn forward and the audience cheered him on, Vic, Rui, and Keya were experiencing the pokemon battle from a much different perspective. In some ways, it was like they were right there, feeling the earthquake themselves. (Which, of course, they were, since an earthquake isn't confined to just a battlefield, but in a more tangible way of course)

And they felt Finn's desire to win.

So when Finn finally reached Giraud, lowering his head in for a tackle, they all knew what was coming next.

"You're not the only one capable of using counter!" Alden shouted. "Let's see how you like the force of those earthquakes coming right back at you!"

"SWAMPERT!" Finn roared, slamming into Giraud with a devastating shoulder check that knocked the Tyranitar off of his feet and sent him flying backwards. He crashed into the grass in front of Wes, twitching helplessly.

Finn panted, falling to one knee. He'd managed to hold on long enough to deliver the counter, but he couldn't do much more than that. He was down and out, but he'd won.

Nobody said a word. Not Alden. Not Wes. Not Vic or Rui, not anyone in the audience, and certainly not Giraud.

Then Giraud's tail twitched.

"…No way…" Vic gasped, and her heart sank in her chest. She couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it.

But she couldn't deny the truth of her own eyes, or the sensations screaming at her through her harmonia.

For the first time in the battle, Giraud had truly fallen.

And also for the first time, he stood back up.

There was a massive dent in his breastplate where Finn's shoulder had collided, and from the shakiness of his breath it was clear that there had been some serious damage to his lungs. But it wasn't enough to take him out. Sand dripped down from his scales, seeping out of the holes in his armor.

"That's impossible!" Callie was the first one to find her voice. "He just took a full-powered counter! He's a Rock/Dark type! There's no way he could stand back up after something like that, he just can't! It's not fair!" She wailed in desperation.

Rui bit her lip bitterly and looked at her daughter's face. Vic had completely given up. It was a horrible thing, seeing the light go out in your child when their dream was crushed right before their eyes. I'm sorry, Victoria. She's right, this isn't fair. But sadly, Giraud has been through far, far worse, he won't fall to something like that.

"…I told you before," Wes said solemnly, "that Giraud could control his ability with his willpower. Before your attack hit, he released a burst of sand between himself and your Swampert to blunt the force of the blow. It protected him just enough to withstand the attack."

Alden shook his head, unable to suppress the grin on his face. It was unbelievable and impossible and he couldn't have been more satisfied.

"As a reward for an excellent fight right now, I'll treat you to a special move of our own," Wes promised. "The strongest move we have."

Giraud roared, and opened his mouth wide. A ball of orange energy gathered between his fangs, pulsing and growing larger.

Rui wanted to close her eyes, but she couldn't. Vic was watching the whole thing with a dead-eyed stare, and she would be a failure of a mother if she didn't do the same.

Hyper beam was Tyranitar's strongest move, fabled to even be able to destroy entire mountains when sufficiently enraged. Giraud's wasn't nearly that strong. But it was strong enough.

The powerful beam of energy burned across the sky, engulfing Finn completely. It shot out around him and moved out through the village, disappearing into the distant sky of the Orre Region.

When it finally died down, Finn was no longer standing, no longer conscious, and, at a glance, no longer breathing.

The match, and the trial, had ended.

The Commander had fallen.

And thus we come to our conclusion. Alden put up an excellent fight, and pushed Wes right to the edge. But in the end, he just wasn't strong enough to defeat the strongest trainer in the Orre Region. But he certainly did his best, no one can deny that.