Alden's group seems to be putting up a pretty good fight against Val and Gwen! At the very least, their spirits haven't been broken yet. Will that be enough for them to come out of this successful? Will they be able to beat the Children of the Oracles, or are Val and Gwen just too powerful of a team to be defeated?

So far, we've got some great girls running in the Nomination Round! Any others we want so far? We've only got a few days left before the nomination round will come to a close, so if there are any other girls you think should be added, make sure to add them in the reviews! Let's see who the third Best Girl will be!

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

KedharS: Well, it is like 5 or 6 against 2, so it makes sense that, as strong as Val and Gwen are, it isn't a total rout.

GymNatty321: I've improved on the battle significantly since then.

Aakareo Kokokuhikari: Until this arc, Alcea hasn't really given much thought to the Oracle. It wasn't until she came back to Agate Village and had those feelings of nostalgia that her thoughts really began to return to that time.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Yup. It was very amusing to see you guess everything correctly the exact same day that the chapter that revealed the truth came out. I was laughing about that one for quite a while to be honest.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 960

Anxiety surged in Chloe's chest as she watched the battle unfold. When the Commander told her about Ross's style of fighting and explained the benefit of setting up those conditions for the fight, while she thought it was rather dirty, she was relieved that it would ensure their victory over this psychotic woman.

But she had gotten her hopes up for nothing.

"Rrrgh!" Tommy spat. "Harvel, use razor leaf!"

"Tropius!" Harvel roared, flapping his leafy wings and sending a barrage of razors flying at the rampaging Tyranitar.

Val snorted. "Please! A meager attack like that won't even scratch Tyrant's scales through this sandstorm!"

Indeed, the razor leaf attack was already losing power even as it approached the Tyranitar due to the force of the sandstorm raging around him. It was like the sand was a barrier itself protecting the colossal pokemon from attacks, keeping anyone else's physical moves from getting close. When the leaves finally hit, they all but bounced off Tyrant's hardened scales, leaving tiny little cuts across his body but not doing any serious damage.

Ross's smile was shaky. He had set the conditions so that Tyrant would be forced to use physical moves and thus leave it vulnerable to his Wobbuffet's counter attack, but Tyrant was proving itself to be far more monstrous than he'd given credit to. At this point, he wasn't even sure if his pokemon would be able to get a hit off.

But he was quick to respond regardless. As the Tyranitar lumbered towards Harvel, preparing an attack, he gave the order to his Wobbuffet, "Bounce, use counter!" The pokemon scurried in front of the Tyranitar in order to reflect whatever move he tried to unleash.

But Tyrant was too smart for that. Rather than let loose an attack, he reached out and grabbed the Wobbuffet with his bare hand, hoisting the rubbery pokemon into the air.

"Your Wobbuffet is just like any other," Val smirked. "It can reflect attacks just fine, but even HE can't reflect an attack when there's no attack to reflect."

Ross's smile finally faded for a moment. She was right, Wobbuffet were capable of reflecting most any attack that came their way, but if Tyrant used his brute strength to just monhandle him without actually attacking, there wasn't much the pokemon could do. He could shut off special attacks, and status attacks, but not a simple grapple like this. It wasn't like he was using submission or something, he just grabbed Bounce…

And then threw him right at Harvel.

"Wobbuffet!" Bounce cried, hitting Harvel in the chest and bouncing off of him. With Bounce's incredible health reserves the throw didn't actually hurt, and Harvel wasn't that injured, either, thankfully. But the attack was enough to interfere with the Tropius's flight, and that left him vulnerable to an attack, which Tyrant was all too happy to provide.

Seeing that Wobbuffet was down for now, Val pounced on her opportunity. "Tyrant!" She shouted. "Use ice fang!"

"TYRANITAR!" Tyrant roared, lumbering forward with far more speed than should be possible for a pokemon with that much bulk. He lunged at Harvel and grabbed the startled pokemon by his long throat, pulling him in close. Opening his mouth wide, Tyrant bit down HARD on one of Harvel's wings, infusing it with chilling icy energy that caused the pokemon to crumple. Harvel crashed to the ground, shivering, ice spreading over one of his leafy wings, ensuring he would remain grounded for the rest of the battle.

"Spheal!" Violet shouted. She covered her body with water and slammed into Tyrant from behind, nearly causing him to stagger.

"Nice going, Violet!" Maddi called. "Use liquidation again!"

"Spheal!" Violet cried back.

Val rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, are you still here? You're the least threatening one of them all, what are your pathetic pokemon going to do? I should just knock you out of this right now."

As if in agreement with his trainer, Tyrant grabbed the tiny round pokemon and lifted her into the air, ignoring the rushing water scraping at his claws, and smashed Violet into the ground. Then he raised his leg to stomp on her for good measure.

"No, Violet!" Maddi cried. But before she could give her another order a blast of sand hit her in the face and she staggered, her eye screaming with pain. Fuck! Had she just gotten sand in it? Or was it something else…?

Even though Maddi had lost her focus and couldn't give the order, that didn't mean her Spheal was all on her own.

"Tropius!" Harvel tackled Tyrant, knocking him off balance, stepping between him and Violet even though his own body had sustained major damage as well.

"Wobbuffet!" Bounce quickly scuttled over as well, putting a far more difficult barrier between Tyrant and Violet. Both Tommy's and Ross's pokemon were ready to defend their teammate.

"Yeah, that's how we do it partner!" Tommy called to his Tropius. "That big old lizard isn't going to lay a claw on one of Maddi's pokemon if we can help it!"

"Don't think I haven't accounted for something as simple as grappling," Ross warned Val, his smile returning with a dangerous edge to it. "I'll show you that you shouldn't be so careless as limiting your thinking. Knox, you get in there, too."

"Smeargle," his Smeargle nodded, rushing to join the others. It was almost cute the way he lifted his little paintbrush tail defiantly against the Tyranitar.

Chloe's heart was pounding in her chest. She had to do something, she had to! They were talking a big game, but it was clear that her side was losing! And if they didn't take care of Val soon, then who was going to step in and help Callie?!

Then she had a thought. "Mr. Wes! Um, excuse me, but can you help us?!" She begged, turning quickly to Wes.

"I would if I could," Wes said, scowling. "Believe me. But there's nothing I can do." Right now, Wes was in a very dark place. He'd brought these two here, and was powerless to stop their rampage. How was this possible?! How could he have let his guard down so easily? All because of the relative peace he'd acquired in Agate Village? It had dulled his instincts and now these kids were forced to pay the price for it.

"But… wh-what about your other pokemon?" Chloe asked. "I mean, you didn't use your Hariyama against the Commander, right? So you should still be able to fight!"

If only it was that simple. But no, Wes had been a fool through and through. He shook his head. "My Hariyama, like many of my other pokemon, was exhausted on my journey. I left all my pokemon in the care of the Pokemon Center after our battle. I don't have any left to fight."

Again, Wes could only curse his own incompetence. He'd let down his guard, he'd left himself defenseless. And he had the arrogance to label himself the Protector of Agate Village? What a worthless joke.

Hearing Wes's words sent Chloe on a downward spiral. No fair… it just wasn't fair! If the Commander or Wes had been able to use their pokemon, then they could have fought back! But Tommy, Ross, and Maddi, they just weren't strong enough to take her down on their own… if only they had some help, if only someone could do something…

She bit her lip and fretted. No… what was she talking about? What was she doing? Was she really that much of a coward?

There was someone here who could do something. And that someone was her. She still had all of her pokemon, they weren't exhausted in the slightest. She could step in and join the fight any time she wanted to, and yet…

I'm afraid, she cursed herself. I'm just a coward who can't do anything right. How could I be so pathetic? Why can't I just be brave and stand up for them?

It wasn't like they were her friends. She barely knew the first thing about any of them. But they had accepted her (mostly) into their group, and she felt obligated as a member of the Commander's faction to do whatever she could to assist them.

And she didn't want anything bad to happen to them, either. But she was too afraid to step in and fight against an opponent whose strength she didn't know.

She glanced warily over at the Commander. He wasn't smiling for once. He was watching this seriously. She could feel it in his gaze, how much he hated being powerless in this moment. It was obvious that the Commander wanted to step in and join the fight, but he couldn't.

Meanwhile there was her.

Why did I even join the Commander in the first place? Chloe asked herself, even when she knew the answer. She was just afraid to confront it. It was because I wanted to change myself, right? I wanted to be a trainer who could take risks, who could step outside of her comfort zone and actually accomplish something meaningful.

Everything I do… it's just the coward's way out, a way to protect myself… but shouldn't I also try and do what I can?

Then she felt her hand wrap around one of her pokeballs. She had reached for it without even noticing, without even thinking about it. Her own body was telling her to step up and join in on the fight, and she couldn't help but agree.

Her hand was shaking with fear, but she couldn't give in. Not now. Not when everyone was counting on her.

"Tyrant, ignore the Wobbuffet!" Val barked. "Grab that Tropius, and then smash them both with him! That should be more than enough!"

"Tyranitar!" Tyrant roared, lunging for the weakened Harvel. In the pokemon's current state, it could only try to avoid the attack in vain.

"Water shuriken!"

A barrage of water blades rained down on Tyrant, pushing him back. With a roar, Tyrant turned to confront his newest foe.

"Greninja!" A sleek Water type pokemon stood behind the others, raising her hands. Her eyes were sharp in fierce defiance and she radiated a protective aura as she sculpted together another blade of water in front of her.

Right beside her was Chloe, looking like she'd just made the biggest mistake of her life.

Val brightened, her manic smile growing even wider and wilder. "Aha! A new challenger joins the fray! Well hello, pleasure to meet you!"

"I-I won't let you just do whatever you want anymore!" Chloe shouted. "We're going to fight, too, you got that?!"

What are you doing you moron?! She cried internally. Entering the battle is one thing, but why would you TAUNT your opponent?!

Not that it made any difference at all to Val. She just smirked. "Oh, I see, so you're here to rescue them, huh? And you think a scrawny little nothing like you can do that?"

Chloe baulked, not used to being put on the spot like this. But she swallowed her nerves and tried to put on a strong front.

"Don't underestimate us!" She cried. "Chiyome and I can fight, too!"

"Yeah!" Tommy cheered in agreement, giving her a thumbs' up. "That's what I'm talking about! Way to go, Cyclops!"

Chloe's jaw dropped in shock. THAT was what he thought about her!?

"Excellent use of water shuriken," Ross complimented her. "I'd heard that due to Greninja's special constitution they were capable of using it as a physical move OR a special move, but I never thought that you would be able to get around my restrictions in such a way. I must say, I'm quite impressed."

Then there were Ross's compliments, which were a whole big deal of embarrassment in a completely different way. Chloe's face turned bright red, she wasn't a huge fan of being the center of everybody's attention.

Maddi didn't say a word, or even look Chloe's way. Chloe didn't know if that was because she was being considerate, or if she had other things on her mind right now, but either way she was grateful for the gesture.

"Aww, look," Val sneered. "All those people who ignored you are now nice and happy since you're doing something for them. Isn't that wonderful?"

Chloe gulped. "Uhum… what?"

"I've had my eye on you this whole time, did you know?" Val asked, absentmindedly twirling a lock of her curly hair like they weren't in the middle of a huge battle. "I saw the way you were cowering behind the others back there. At first, I thought it was because you didn't have any pokemon of your own, like that kid."

She nodded to Keya who was curled up in the grass, still overwhelmed by the outpouring of negative emotions from Gwen.

"…But look at you!" Val continued, turning back to Chloe. "You DO have pokemon! And a pretty tough one, at that! Which makes me wonder why you didn't step in until now?"

"Th-That… That was because…"

"Because you wanted to be the big hero, right?" Val asked, narrowing her eyes.

"What?! No, I just-"

"Oh, yeah, it's definitely that, don't even try to deny it. I can see it all over your face. Poor, scared little… sorry, what was your name?"

Her voice caught in her throat. "Ch-Chloe…"

"…Right. Poor, scared little Zoey, cowering behind her friends… oh, please, you're a calculating bitch if I've ever seen one. Sure, you might be a worthless, gutless coward like a certain sludge-covered loser I know, but that's not why you waited," Val scoffed, shaking her head. "No, you did it because you wanted to be the center of attention, isn't that right?"

What was she saying?! Of course not! "That… That's not true! I hate stuff like that, I don't-" Chloe wailed, fumbling for the words to shut her accuser down.

Val just rolled her eyes and cut her off. "Oh, sure, you're shy, but deep down? You're LOVING this. Being the hero, the savior, the girl who came to everyone's rescue. After all, it's not like you're one of them, right? I can smell an outsider a mile away, and honey, you're an outsider."

Chloe froze. She… this girl didn't know anything, so how did she know…?

"Like I said, it's written all over your face," Val smirked. "You're not a joiner. You're not the life of the party. You're just riding the coattails of someone better than you, trust me, I see it all the time. These three, weak as they are, they're still willing to step in and fight. But you waited. Because you knew that they had no chance, didn't you? You knew that the time would come when they needed your help, and when that moment came, you would be able to swoop in and take me down, and show them all what a big hero you are."

"That… That's not…"

"Oh, it's true," Val assured her. "Sure, maybe you THINK that you're doing it for all the right reasons, but deep down, you know better. You know that the reason you're helping them is so cute little scared Zoey, the outsider, can have her shining moment. She can show all the people she looks up to, the people who don't give her the time of day, that she's worth something herself. That she's just as cool and tough as them. Because you think that, if you can help them, if you can just do this one big thing, then you'll have finally earned your spot among the team, isn't that right? Finally they'll see you and think 'yeah! She really is one of us!' It happens all the time. Someone like you, who can't earn the respect and admiration and friendship of others the normal way, they look for 'big moments' like this. It's no different from some loser in high school who dreams of the girl he likes being assaulted so he can step in at the last moment and save her, and she'll fall for him with a grand gesture, because he's too much of a coward to just go and talk to her."

Her eyes narrowed and her lips spread in a wicked smile with her final words. "Because deep down inside he knows that under normal circumstances, he'd be too much of a loser for her to ever give him the time of day. So he needs the grand gesture, because it's the only way she'd ever give him a chance. Isn't that right, Zoey?"

That's… no, she was wrong! She was just trying to get into her head and distract her! Chloe quickly shook her head to try and banish all those thoughts, but they kept prying away at her. The way she said it, it just sounded so…

Is she right? Is that really why I waited this long? It wasn't because I was scared, it was because I wanted to…

Maybe… maybe Val was right? Maybe she'd really just been trying to use this situation to her advantage the entire time, and didn't really care about helping them… maybe she really was such a bad person that she'd chosen to step in at the perfect moment so she could get their acceptance after this all passed, win or lose.

Chloe felt like she was going to be sick. She'd always thought she was a good person, but was she really just a calculating bitch inside? She glanced up at Chiyome, who looked back at her trainer with a worried look.

Val smirked, reveling in the torment streaking across Chloe's face. "You don't need to worry, Zoey, it's not going to matter," she assured the other girl. "Because you won't win anyway. After all, you and your Greninja were paying so much attention to my words you didn't even notice Tyrant sneaking up on you until it was too late!"

Startled, Chiyome whirled around just in time to see a massive boulder smash into her face.

Damn it, Chloe, you're supposed to be smarter than this! Don't just LET Val break you down like that, you're supposed to put up some resistance! Oh well, this is sort of what Val does after all, we can't hold it against her too much.