Alcea showed up to save everyone from the Children of the Oracles, with Vic in tow to heal up all their injuries! But unfortunately, Val played a dirty hand, revealing that Alcea and Blake are (formerly) engaged to married! Hopefully, Gwen won't respond too poorly to that news, but given her history with Blake's… relationships… with other girls, somehow I don't think that's very likely. Remember to review!

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 couple of people who have voted 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: But that's exactly what she wanted to do.

Hyphenman: Big time, I'd say.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Yep, we had to skip Chloe's battle, because no spoilers. Gwen has a real penchant for rocketing things to "we're all going to die" levels.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 964

"Blake… married?" Gwen whispered. Her eyes were wide and empty as she tried to process what Val was telling her. No, it had to be a mistake. This had to be one of those things that she just didn't understand properly. Because she couldn't believe that Blake… her big brother… she couldn't believe that he could actually be getting married to somebody.

It wasn't possible. It wasn't true. Val had to be lying to her.

"Lies, lies, lies!" Gwen shouted.

"Gwen, your big brother getting married to Alcea is not a lie," Val said, shaking her head. "I know you don't want to accept that Blake could get married to somebody else, but that's the truth."

Gwen stared at Alcea with loathsome rage.

"Is it true?!" She demanded.

Alcea was stunned. "Is… Is what true?"

What was she talking about?! Why wasn't she answering? She was deflecting, if it wasn't the truth she would have said so. But she was saying things Gwen couldn't understand, making her think that she was going crazy, trying to confuse her! No, no! She wasn't going to confuse her, she couldn't!

"Alcea…" Callie gasped, trying to sit up. Vic had to hold her down.

"Hey, you've lost a lot of blood!" She snapped. "Stay down!"

But Callie wouldn't listen. She needed to tell Alcea, needed to let her know.

"That girl… she's Blake's… little sister…" Callie muttered.

Alcea's eyes widened. She'd heard rumors about Blake's sister. She knew of the girl, and what she meant to Blake, but she'd never thought…

"You… are you really Blake's sister?!" Alcea cried. But Gwen couldn't hear her words. As far as she knew, Alcea could be talking to anyone, since she didn't use her name.

"Are you Blake's fiancé?!" She demanded again.

Stunned, Alcea frantically shook her head. "No! No I'm not! Not anymore!"

More confusing words. More words meant for anyone. Why wouldn't she just answer her?! Gwen tugged at her hair in frustration as her powers began to seep out of her. Her head was pounding and she couldn't focus. She didn't want to believe it, but…

"Gwen, you know that Alcea wasn't your big brother's fiancé, she would tell you she wasn't, right?" Val whispered. "Alcea's trying to confuse you, Gwen. Alcea's trying to make you think that you're crazy, because she knows that if she can confuse you, that's the only way she can get out of this. But don't worry. I won't let her confuse you. I'll tell you everything," Val assured her.

She reached out and stroked Gwen's hair, and Gwen fucking lost it.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" She roared, releasing a shockwave of psychic energy that knocked Val off of her feet.

Val landed on her ass, cackling like a madwoman. Oh man, this was just perfect.

"Don't know… too much… can't, can't, can't understand, STOP IT! Why won't you just STOP CONFUSING ME?!" Gwen screeched, swinging her head around, her eyes wildly searching for enemies. It was like she could barely see Alcea at this point.

Vic's harmonia shook and she nearly stopped healing Callie. She stared in horror at the crazed blonde, and felt terror she'd never experienced before set in.

With her powers, Vic had gotten to see a lot of things. In her 18 years, she'd met more people with her gift than most had the chance to, ranging from calm and rational like Marion to stark-raving lunatics like Elaina Bishop.

This girl, Gwen, she was worse than all of them. Her harmonia was overwhelming her, leaving her with only a few tenuous threads tying her down to reality, but Vic suspected that even without those abilities her brain didn't quite work the way other people's did. Simply put, she was terrifying. The feeling Vic felt being in her presence was like being around a Shadow Pokemon. No, it was worse than that. What happened to Shadow Pokemon, and the state of their minds after the process, was horrible and nauseating, but this…

It was like this girl had flung herself into lunacy, and was drowning in her destructive impulses. And there wasn't anyone who could put a stop to her.

Vic swallowed and started to stand, reaching for her pokeballs. She looked apologetically down at Callie, who returned her gaze with an understanding nod. Some things were more important than others, and if Callie had to sacrifice herself for the sake of everyone else, then-

"No," Alcea said, holding her arm out to keep Vic back.

"What?!" Vic sputtered.

"Continue helping her," Alcea ordered, shooting her a sharp glare. "As for this girl… I will take care of her myself, is it?"

"Alcea?! You can't be serious!" Callie exclaimed.

"What?!" Vic demanded. "You think you can take her and I can't?! You think you're a better trainer than me, is that it?!"

For as much as her relationship with Alcea had improved over the course of the day, when push came to shove, Vic had not grown as much as she would have liked. The pressure was on, and she was slipping back into old habits. Her insecurity and self-doubt were rearing their ugly heads, and she didn't want to be outshown by her greatest rival.

Even if that rival happened to be her first friend.

"Right now… I need you to help her," Alcea pleaded. "Please. As for this girl… I'll try to do what I can for her."

Vic winced, and then nodded her head, lowering her hands reluctantly. She turned back to Callie and knelt beside her again, preparing her healing treatment a second time. Callie's wound began to shine and her injuries started healing gradually, even as she looked on in despair at her friend preparing to fight such a dangerous foe.

"Now then… let's get on with this, oui?" Alcea said, nodding to Anastacia. She didn't like having to do this, but she would harden her heart if that's what it took.

"Alright, now that's what I like to see!" Val cheered, clapping. "Go on then you two, let's light this Growlithe!"

Alcea glared at her. She wished that she could be taking out her rage on that horrid girl who had made Kate's life a living hell. Kate still had problems NOW making friends, and from what she'd told her it was all because of the hellish bullying that Valerie Chiester had put her through. Seeing the girl in person told Alcea that all of her friend's words were probably correct.

"Raaaaaargh!" Gwen shouted, sending her power into Lancelot. The Gallade lunged forward, arm raised, his body practically glowing with power.

"Anastacia, acrobatics," Alcea ordered. She could see that Lancelot was a powerful and swift opponent, and she would need to go all-out from the start.

"Tsar," Anastacia nodded, jumping into the air. She brought her leg down, kicking off of Lancelot's arm blade and leaping back, evading his attacks as she did. Her acrobatic maneuvers allowed her to keep an edge, but Lancelot's swift strikes didn't leave any opportunity for a counter attack.

Val sat back and watched the fireworks. She'd exhausted Tyrant's abilities, and had used her trump card to clean up the rest of the mess that followed. But that was enough battling for now. She didn't see the need to step in and lend a hand, not when Gwen was in this condition. If by some miracle Alcea actually managed to win, then maybe she'd go in, but for now she had free pass to watch these two girls kill themselves, and that was the kind of show that just couldn't be beat.

"Careful, Alcea," Vic warned her. "That girl… her harmonia is like nothing I've ever seen before. She's completely consumed by the power, and isn't even trying to control herself. With that level of destructive force, she's really fucking dangerous."

Alcea narrowed her eyes. It was definitely a difficult situation. While she didn't want to seriously injure Blake's little sister, for obvious reasons, even if the girl was out of her mind and dangerous, there wasn't really a peaceful way of calming her down at the moment, either. Alcea didn't even think that something like that would be possible, honestly.

Which put her in a bit of a precarious position.

"I suppose if we want to come out of this alive… then a little tough care is essential, is it?" Alcea scowled. "Anastacia! Teeter dance!"

"Tsareena!" Anastacia leapt back, putting distance between herself and Lancelot, and began to sway from side to side. Her perplexing movements disoriented Lancelot, forcing him to stumble back in confusion as his head started to swim, nearly knocking him over.

"Aaargh…" Gwen clutched her head and fell to her knees, blood spurting from her nose. Everything was already so confusing to her, but now that she was sharing Lancelot's senses even her own eyes were lying to her now! It was like the world was tumbling around her in a kaleidoscope of screaming voices, and she couldn't keep anything straight.

"W-Whoa…" Vic gasped, surprised at how easily Alcea had managed to take her opponent down. Lancelot wasn't even fighting back at this point, he was just thrashing on the ground, while Gwen was a bizarre mixture of catatonia and manic screams.

"From my experience with Kanone Harker, I know that in many cases there are harmonia users that have the power to snap their pokemon out of confusion, is it?" Alcea bitterly muttered, glancing to Vic for confirmation.

Vic swallowed and nodded. "Y-Yeah," she admitted. "Because of our bonds with our pokemon, we can bring them back to clarity, most of the time. But like this…"

"Elaina Bishop experienced the same thing, if I recall correctly. That girl's present state… it was very much like how she was then," Alcea said. "Confused and lost, completely wild."

"If a trainer and their pokemon merge their sense too much, to the point where it becomes nearly impossible to separate their individual consciousnesses, then they lose some of the more subtle benefits of harmonia," Vic explained, staring regretfully at the struggling girl. "She was just as affected by the confuse ray as her Gallade, which means she can't use their connection for snap him out of it. They're both just lost in mania now…"

Vic didn't voice her doubts that, even if she were lucid, given her baseline mental state it was unlikely that Gwen connecting with Lancelot would be able to bring him out of it anyway. She was just too damaged.

"Then we can finish this!" Alcea declared. A trainer without the state of mind to even give their confused pokemon orders was no threat. "Anastacia! Use power whip!"

"Tsareena!" Anastacia nodded, raising her hand. A long red whip extended from her glove and she swung it at Lancelot, striking the Gallade across the face and knocking him off his feet as he tried to stand. She was going to keep the squirming pokemon on the ground for as long as she could, and hopefully finish him off.

Val watched from the sidelines, smirking. That stupid girl. She was treating this as just another pokemon battle, when she had no idea the threat she was dealing with.

Gwen without what little sanity she had was a danger to everyone.

Anastacia raised her whip again and swung it, but in a flash of light Lancelot disappeared before the strike could connect.

"What?" Alcea gasped.

"Gallade!" Lancelot reappeared, standing up, a few feet away. But he didn't attack, at least not with any measure of control. He just swung his arms wildly.

"She… I don't think either of them knows what's going on!" Vic shouted, glancing up from Callie. "They're just lashing out like feral pokemon! That teleport… I think that's just a defense mechanism, more than anything."

Anastacia tried to attack again, but Lancelot teleported again.

A flash of light to her left caught Alcea's eye, and she turned just in time to see Lancelot swing wildly in her direction. Thankfully the madness of confusion meant that it was a sloppy and unaimed attack, otherwise her head might have come off.

She leapt backwards, wiping the sweat off her brow. This wasn't good. She needed to take out that Gallade, but the pokemon was too wild to stop. There had to be something, anything. Some way that she could keep the pokemon from going completely fucking wild on all of them.

Right now, though, she needed to find some way to contain him.

"Anastacia…"

Again, it was an order she didn't want to give. But she had to.

"…Target the girl."

Anastacia was stunned to hear such an order from her trainer again, especially due to the lack of rage in Alcea's voice. Attacking Val was understandable, when it was done in a furious rage. But coldly deciding to attack a helpless opponent struggling madly on the ground, as a calculated maneuver, that just seemed…

Anastacia shook her head. No, she shouldn't question it. Alcea knew best. She charged at Gwen, raising her whip, and swung it at Gwen.

In her fugue, Gwen saw the pokemon coming at her, and swung her arms frantically to fend her off. She didn't even know it wasn't Lancelot she was charging at, not until she saw her own hands through the fog of confusion.

She was being attacked.

No.

"Gallade!" Lancelot teleported in front of her and swung his arm, trying to knock Anastacia back. But that was what she'd been counting on. She expected that, as confused as they were, they would still at least be sane enough to recognize an incoming attack and move to counter it. But the form of that counter wouldn't be an effective one.

Anastacia easily evaded the blade, lifting her leg and delivering a powerful kick into Lancelot's side that she was certain would knock him over.

But it didn't. Lancelot took the kick without even flinching, wrapping his arm around her ankle and tugging her forward.

"Tsareena?!" Anastacia gasped in surprise as Lancelot hoisted her into the air and slammed her down into the grass.

"He snapped out of it on his own," Alcea said with a scowl.

"It must have been his protective instinct kicking in," Vic reasoned.

"Tsa-Tsar…" Anastacia mumbled weakly, trying to stand. But now that he had her pinned, Lancelot wasn't about to let that happen. Not after she'd tried to harm his trainer.

"Gallade!" Lancelot shouted, raising his fist and smashing it into her stomach.

"Tsareena!" Anastacia coughed in pain, the ground cracking beneath her. But Lancelot wasn't done. With the power of harmonia that Gwen was feeding him, his brute strength was increased several times over, and he unleashed a powerful close combat without any regard for the possible backlash. What point was there? He wouldn't fall. If he fell, then Gwen would be defenseless, and he would never leave his trainer to fend for herself.

"GALLADE!" Lancelot roared with fury, delivering blow after blow with everything he had. It was all Anastacia could do to hold on.

"Anastacia!" Alcea shouted. "Use leaf storm!"

"Tsareena…" Anastacia gasped out. She didn't have much of a window of opportunity. Lancelot's blows were powerful, and he was delivering them one after another. But he could only keep up a continuous assault for so long, and eventually he provided an opening.

The moment he did, her hands shot up and she created a tornado of leaves around her body, the force of the blow enough to fling him into the sky. Spinning, she leapt back, clutching her stomach, just as bruised as the rest of her.

Even though she was nowhere near the center of the attack, Gwen felt the blades cutting into her own flesh. She rose to her feet, panting, as what passed for clarity in her mind slowly returned to her. Staring across the field at Anastacia, she shouted in unison with Lancelot as he landed on the ground in front of her.

"Quite a fearsome foe, is it?" Alcea muttered, shaking her head in disbelief. She didn't know how much damage Callie had managed to inflict on the Gallade before she'd gotten there, but she could tell from the state he'd been in that he hadn't been uninjured.

Unfortunately, it seemed that whatever they did, the pokemon just wouldn't stay down. And he was powerful, too, that was the scariest part. The raw brute strength available to him through the use of Gwen's harmonia was terrifying. Anastacia had entered this battle at full health, and right now she was worse off than he was. All because Lancelot had able to get in one single attack.

This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. Her strategy had been to use pain and confusion to keep Gwen and her Gallade pacified, but that clearly hadn't worked. It was time for Alcea to stop using brute force to overwhelm the harmonia user, and switch to more subtle tactics.

"Anastacia, use sunny day," she ordered.

"Tsareena," Anastacia nodded, in agreement, sending a burst of energy into the air that lit up the afternoon sun, intensifying the heat of the battlefield.

"Ooh, now there's a play," Val whistled in approval. "Changing the weather to suit your whims? That's one of your best strategies, isn't it?"

Alcea shot her a glare.

Val shrugged, smirking. "Like I said. Big fan."

"Just die!" Gwen shouted, her harmonia surging. She didn't care about the sunlight, she just wanted Alcea to fucking go away! She channeled her power into Lancelot and he charged at Anastacia, raising his arm to prepare to attack.

Alcea narrowed her eyes. This wasn't good. She'd need everything she had in order to win.

Hopefully, she could do it without having to hurt the other girl unnecessarily.

Gwen and Alcea are fighting! Will Alcea be able to defeat Gwen and get through to her? Or will Gwen's insanity and her harmonia prove too fearsome a foe to be overcome through conventional means? We'll have to find out!