Things are getting really bad in the fight against Val and Gwen. Will our girls be able to defeat them? Or will they lose against the trainers' superior pokemon? We'll have to see, things are really getting intense in Agate Village!

The Elimination Round of the Pokemon Academy Best Girl Contest 3 has started! Make sure to get those votes in, we've only got a few so far! You can vote for up to 5 girls, so make sure your favorites have a chance to shine!

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

KedharS: I hope it does.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: We'll have to see if Chloe can stand up to someone of Val's caliber. She's strong, the question is, is she strong enough to take on pokemon like Val's?

Hyphenman: I noticed, don't worry. Also, yes, Callie's in pretty bad shape. She needs a doctor, and fast, or she might die.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 963

It felt like Alcea, Vic, and Rui had been trying to heal Shaymin for hours. The sun was much lower in the sky, and they were all sweating with exhaustion, starving, and feeling drained. Even Alcea was starting to wonder if there was any hope to be found.

No matter what they tried, it just wasn't working. Shaymin wasn't getting better, Vic and Rui could both feel it. But Alcea refused to give up.

"One more time," she gasped, wiping her forehead. "S'il vous plait, please, once… one more time…" The look in her eyes was desperate, and neither woman could bear to turn her down. So they used their powers again to try one more time, and then of course, one more time after that. As many "one more times" as it would take.

Ryoko watched all of this from the sidelines with a look of cold indifference on her face. While she was truly concerned, she was having a hard time masking her frustrations, and while trying to tamp down on those feelings she found herself detaching.

She just could not understand what they were doing wrong.

Then something came that caught everybody's attention.

"Hah… hah…"

A panting voice caused four heads to snap around in shock, and for a second, none of the women had any idea what they were looking at. The last person they'd ever expected to see had just stepped out of Relic Cave.

Well, "stepped out" wasn't the right terminology, more like "collapsed in front of".

It was Mason. He was sweaty and red in the face (possibly from sunburn) and gasping for breath, looking about two steps away from death.

Ryoko was the first to respond.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded, narrowing her eyes. But Mason was too out of breath to answer.

Rui hopped to her feet in a panic. Not good. This wasn't good at all! "Victoria, what's going on? Mason? What are you doing here?! You're supposed to be with Wes… nobody's allowed in here! Where's Wes?! Did you sneak away?! Answer me!" She demanded angrily.

Mason raised his head, his glasses fogging up. He opened his mouth and made a choking sound, but couldn't say anything.

Vic's response wasn't as pleasant as her mother's. She stormed through the clearing, standing over the lanky student and focusing an icy glare down at him. She'd been feeling frustrated and powerless for hours now, and Mason being here provided a perfect outlet to unleash that anger on.

Only Alcea was genuinely concerned. Lifting up Shaymin and setting her down gently in the bushes she walked over to Mason and knelt down beside him.

"Are you alright?" She asked quietly. Mason turned to her, shaking, and managed to sputter out a single word.

"Attacked…" He whispered.

That caused everyone to snap to attention immediately. The situation suddenly became a lot more serious than someone sneaking into a place they weren't allowed to be.

"Attacked?!" Vic demanded. "What do you mean 'attacked'?!"

"Two girls… our age… maybe… younger… came with Wes… attacked us… Ross and the others… fought them… losing…" Mason managed to get out. It was more words than they'd ever heard him speak in one sitting.

"And they're the ones that did this to you, is it?" Alcea asked, her lips pursing into a scowl.

Mason glanced at her in confusion. "What…? No, I… I watched from the house… snuck away… ran here as fast as I could…"

He coughed his lungs out.

"I'm not… so good at running…"

The concern everyone felt for him just went out the window.

"This… This doesn't make sense," Rui said, shaking her head. "No way, why would anyone come attack us here? I don't understand."

"A whole lot of reasons, mom," Vic snapped. "Maybe because you've got a secret cave holding a special pokemon?! Or…"

"It's this," Alcea said, holding up the Oracle. "They're after this, is it?"

"The Oracle? Why…?" Rui was still confused.

"My friend, Kate… she fought against some people like that a few months ago," Alcea explained. "Said they were looking for an Oracle, like this one. It could be the same people, come to take it… either way, it matters not."

She stood up, adjusting the pokeballs on her waist. Her eyes were narrowed with resolve.

"I'm going to help them," she decided. She turned and glanced back at Shaymin. "I'm sorry," she whispered to her friend. "I'll be back, I promise."

"I'm coming with you," Vic said. "I've got pokemon too, I can help." She glanced at her hands, and they were glowing green. "Plus… there might be people injured. If I can help… I have to."

She turned to follow Alcea when she felt Rui's hand grab her wrist.

"Mom?" Vic turned back to see her mother's shocked expression.

"What do you think you're doing?" Rui demanded. "These… these are… criminals, or terrorists, or… or who knows what! I'm not letting you go out there, not a chance!"

"Mom, you and dad took down Cipher when you were younger than I am!" Vic protested.

"That was different!" Rui sputtered.

"How?! How was that different?" Vic demanded.

"Because I'm your mother and I say so!" Rui proclaimed. "Leave it to your father, he can handle them! There's no need to get you involved!"

"If dad could 'handle' them, there's no way Mason would have come running all the way here," Vic replied. "I can do this, mom. I'm not some weak little girl anymore."

Rui was shaking. There were tears in her eyes. "But you're still my little girl…" She whimpered.

Vic's eyes began to water too. But she wouldn't let herself be swayed. "I have to go, mom. They need my help. You stay here and look after Shaymin, okay? I promise, we'll be back."

Rui sniffed, wiping her eyes. "Okay, okay, just… just be safe…"

Vic smiled. "I will." She turned and ran after Alcea, leaving her mother behind.

"Yeah… yeah, you two… you go… I'll… I'll take care of things here…" Mason panted from the ground. "Good plan… yeah…"

"You were right to let them go," Ryoko said solemnly.

Rui scowled. She'd just about had it with Ryoko's sanctimonious attitude. She'd looked up to the woman for most of her life, but she was just about done with her fucking "the needs of the many" bullshit. Not when it came to her own daughter.

"Oh yeah?" She snapped. "Is that your 'knowledge of the future' telling you that then, huh? You know what's going to happen?"

"No," Ryoko bluntly replied. "But I know that they will be fine."

Rui was used to trusting Ryoko on stuff like this. But not right now.

"Well, I think I've made my point," Val said, clipping her pokeball back onto her belt. The sandstorm had died down. "…It was fun, you know. Good for a little time-killer. But honestly… you're not really that good of a trainer, Zoey, I'm sorry."

Chloe knelt down next to Chiyome, shaking. She'd done her best, but…

"I'm sorry, Chiyome…" she whimpered. How the hell was she supposed to fight against a pokemon like that?

Everyone was stunned. Even Wes. Nobody had the strength to stand up to Val, not after what they'd just seen. Her trump card…

They didn't have any pokemon left. And even if they did, they wouldn't stand a chance. And with Maddi and Keya both down for the count, and Ross's barrier smashed to pieces, there was only one person left still capable of even trying.

And right now, she was bleeding out in the grass.

"URraaaaaaagh!" Gwen shouted, her harmonia going wild. Lancelot moved so fast he was a blur, raising his arms and unleashing a barrage of deadly punches upon Rio, who tried her hardest to avoid them all, but was clearly at a disadvantage.

"Rio!" Callie cried, seeing the beating her pokemon was taking. "Please, you've gotta hang on, you've got to!"

"Lu… Lucario…" Rio panted, raising her fist. She stepped forward and punched Lancelot in the face, but she couldn't even make the pokemon flinch. She just didn't have any strength left in her body at this point.

Finished with this, Lancelot swung his fist up into Rio's stomach, knocking the air out of her lungs. Coughing, Rio doubled over in pain, and Lancelot dropped her to the ground like a sack of rotten potatoes.

"How's that?!" Gwen shouted, pulling back her leg and kicking the air, Lancelot mirroring her movements and kicking Rio in the side. "And that?! You like it? You like it? Yeah, you like it, don't you bitch?!"

She was so crazed she had no idea what she was even saying at this point, her memories fried. As she stared at Callie writhing on the ground, she replaced the small blonde with her younger self. As she looked down at tiny Gwen, she became all of her bullies, tormenting Rio the way that she had been tormented as her reality started to crack at the seams.

"Freak! Freak! Ugly, retarded, FREAK!" She punctuated each word with another kick, ranting and foaming at the mouth as she fell further and further off the deep end. It didn't matter at this point that Rio had already lost consciousness, she was completely out of control.

Val stretched back and watched the show. Shit like this was better than porn.

"S-Someone stop her…" Chloe whimpered pathetically. Pokemon could take a lot of abuse, but even they had their limits. If Rio kept being hit like that, she could really be in trouble.

But nobody had the courage to tackle a harmonia-empowered psychotic Gallade head-on, especially not one who'd just finished dismantling Callie's entire team. The only one with the strength to try and put a stop to it was Callie, and all she could do was struggle in the grass as the life slowly drained from her body.

Her vision was fading, and she could feel herself passing out. She let out a final sob of despair as she realized that the last thing she would ever see was her poor Rio being tormented right in front of her, with her being helpless to stop it.

"Tsaaaar!"

Lancelot's head snapped around just in time to see a long leg hit him square in the face, sending him flying. Gwen fell backwards as her connection to her pokemon snapped, and what little sanity she had returned to her as she whirled to see what had just happened.

Callie cracked her eyes open weakly to see the visage of her savior.

Alcea's Tsareena stood proudly over Rio and Callie, her face filled with indignation.

"Callie!" Alcea shouted, running down the field towards her friend. "Callie! Are you alright!?"

"Alcea?" She blubbered out, unable to believe her eyes. Alcea had come to save her… was this some dying hallucination, or could something so miraculous have really happened?

"I'm here," Alcea assured her, kneeling down next to Callie. Her face was pale with terror as she looked at the state of her friend. "Oh, no… this isn't good… not good at all, is it?"

Her head shot up and she looked around frantically, her eyes landing on Wes. "She needs a doctor! A hospital, right now!"

"Yeah, no fucking shit!" Wes snapped. "In case you hadn't noticed, we're in the middle of something here!"

"Let me help," Vic said, crouching down beside her. Her hands started to glow. "Here. How's this? Are you feeling better?"

"Wh-Wha… th-that…" Callie was shocked. Vic's touch… it felt like life was literally being shoved back inside of her, like Vic's harmonia was keeping her breathing through sheer force of will.

"Wheeeew," Val whistled. "Gotta say, that's a pretty handy power you've got there… so you're the backup, huh? Come here to rescue all your meek little friends? Gotta say, I'm touched. Those heartwarming 'the cavalry arrives at the last second' moments really get the juices going, you know? Waterworks, every time."

Alcea was seething at the mockery in the woman's voice. She rose to her feet and clenched her fists. "So you're the one responsible for this, is it?" She asked coolly, turning to the other girl.

"What? No, I would never!" Val said, her face twisting in mock indignation. "A deep cut like that? No, I'm the kind of person who would cut into her for hours and hours to really let the pain seep in, you know what I'm saying? No, the one who butchered your little friend is standing right there."

She pointed at Gwen. Alcea wasn't amused.

"And you're the Children of the Oracles, is it?" She scowled.

Val whistled again. "And a stuffed Pikachu for the lady, seems like word's getting around! Well, that makes it simple then. You tell us where we can find the Oracle, and we'll be out of your hair. You can go and get all your little friends to the doctor, and we're square. Works for you?"

"Fine," Alcea said. She reached into her shirt and took out her pendant. "It's right here. Come and get it."

Val smirked. "You know… I was really, really hoping you'd say something like that."

"Alcea!" Chloe shouted, surprising the redhead. She glanced her way momentarily and saw the look of terror in her eyes.

"You can't win against her," Chloe pleaded. "You just can't! That pokemon she has…"

"Oh, hush up you," Val smiled. "Please, don't spoil the surprise. So you're Alcea, hmm? Alcea Vermeil? You know you're famous, right?"

Alcea didn't dignify that with a response.

"You know, I'm actually from Kalos myself? I know, I know, it's hard to tell. But honestly? You're kind of an idol to a lot of us. A girl our age, from a wealthy family, stranded on a deserted island, returns and begins entering tournaments, and then winning as much as you have? I think every girl in my middle school had a poster of you on their wall."

"Always happy to meet a fan, is it?" Alcea sneered sarcastically.

"Oh, come on, you're breaking my heart," Val said, her tone as mocking as always. "I mean yes, you have a lot of fans, but you know… I always thought that the two of us had so much more of a connection than that. I feel like there's something deeper between you and I."

"Somehow I doubt that," Alcea replied.

"No, really!" Val said. "See, I'm not just some groupie, no, I guess I'm just… well, Kate talks you up so much, it really makes me feel like I know the real you, you know?"

Alcea froze.

"…What?" The chilling tone of her voice even made Vic shiver. She glanced up warily at Alcea, unnerved by the look in the redhead's eyes.

"What, she didn't tell you? It's me! Valerie Chiester! We were old friends, she and I! Best of chums, all the way back since grammar school!" Val grinned, her eyes shining with glee. "We reconnected a while back, and I gotta say, she hasn't changed a bit! Still that same pathetic, worthless bag of piss that she always was. But then, you must have known that, too, right?"

Alcea took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. "…I see. So you're Valerie Chiester, is it?"

Val grinned, raising her eyebrows tauntingly. "That's me."

"Well that works out perfectly then," Alcea whispered, the Oracle hanging from her neck starting to glow bright green. "You see… I've been wanting to make you pay for what you did to my friend for quite some time, is it?"

"Alcea, I don't think…" Vic wasn't sure about this. Alcea was strong, but she was exhausted and clearly frustrated from all the time she'd spent futilely trying to heal Shaymin. And with how Val was taunting her…

Clearly, she wasn't thinking clearly.

And to make matters worse… there was the blonde. Just the sight of her in that state made Vic want to lose her lunch. She could feel the girl's noisome harmonia oozing out of her, and her Gallade was radiating so much pain and despair that it practically felt like she was looking at a Shadow Pokemon. It was the absolute worst of bad case scenarios and Vic wasn't sure if Alcea could handle things.

Alcea proved her right with what she did next. "Anastacia!" She shouted, the Oracle glowing even brighter. "Trop kick!"

"Tsareena?" Anastacia looked back at her, surprised.

"You heard me," Alcea growled, pointing right at Val's smug, smirking face.

Val licked her lips in response.

Stunned, Anastacia simply nodded her head, jumping into the air and preparing to unleash her full power against a defenseless human.

Everyone was stunned. Val didn't make any moves to dodge, or defend herself with one of her pokemon. Almost as if she was daring Alcea to go through with it, she waited in place as Anastacia attacked.

Nobody knew if Alcea would actually follow through with her borderline-criminal order. Not even Alcea herself. While she may have lost her nerve and decided to call it off at the last second, she'd never know, because before Anastacia could complete her orders Lancelot teleported in front of Val with his arm raised, blocking her kick with his sword.

"Aww, what a pity," Val crooned. "And you were so close to getting revenge for your little sludge girl, too bad… but hey, if it makes you feel better, I've got a playmate for you! Her name's Gwen, and she's just dying to get a chance to fight you, aren't you, Gwen?"

Gwen turned to Val, confused. "Fight who?"

"Oh, right," Val laughed. "Sorry. Gwen, that's Alcea Vermeil over there, the redhead with the Oracle around her neck."

Gwen turned to Alcea and nodded.

"Oh, and Gwen, one other thing about Alcea, it turns out that she's a member of your family," Val added, causing Gwen to give her another confused look, this one tinged with anger.

"…What?"

"Yeah, didn't you know? Gwen, Alcea is your big brother Blake's fiancé! They're going to be married! Your dad arranged the whole thing, isn't that the best news ever?" Val asked excitedly, clapping her hands with glee.

Well, I'm sure Gwen will respond to that little tidbit of information with maturity and understanding.